Life Holds On
by Written Parody
Summary: They showed us the ‘happily ever after’ at the end of the Cybertron series. But what happened in-between? It’s been four years since the Autobots left Earth, how much have they all changed since then? Welcome to the story of time that no one wanted to tel
1. Chapter 1

**((Author's Note: This Entire Story has been revised and edited.))**

* * *

**Back To The Home We Forgot **

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Ok well this is my first fanfic ever, so I'm not sure if I should go ahead with the whole thing or not. So what I'll do is post the first two chapters. If just five people tell me they want to see the end I'll gladly rattle on for them. Also, an apology for the useless title; I have as much muse as a ping-pong ball these days.

Brace for impact!

* * *

The atmosphere in the spaceship was almost electric. The anticipation and longing that rushed through every being in it seemed to be visibly there in front of them. They hadn't planed to stay away so long, the Autobots who had gone to the furthest corners of the galaxy. But they were now reunited with almost all the comrades they had left behind. The ship had made stops at all the planets it had needed to: Velocitron, the Jungle Planet and, of course, Cybertron itself. Now they were going to the last place they had called home and the excitement wasn't being pushed down.

"Optimus Prime, we will be landing on Earth in approximately twenty minutes."

The humans who were on board couldn't help but let out a cheer. They had never been short of adventure out there with the stars, but homesickness had claimed them all, and it had escalated the closer they got to their home.

"Hey, you people cheer any louder and we'll take offence to it."

The voice was joking, and no one took any notice of it except the red Autobot in the corner.

"Humph, if anyone should take offence, it's me Hot Shot. Any idiot could tell you are as excited as the humans to be going to Earth; and you were eager enough to leave the Speed Planet as soon as we stopped there, which doesn't say much for how you were governing it."

Hotshot laughed, brushing it off as easily as a speck of dirt.

"Aw come on, you know I did a great job looking after your planet; it's still very intact and no one is dead."

He turned to look at the only female Transformer in the ship.

"Besides, you were the one who put me in charge; I didn't volunteer or anything."

Optimus Prime laughed.

"He has you there, Override."

Override just shook her head, though she was plainly amused.

"I don't know what I was thinking that day…"

All in all, the atmosphere couldn't have been more boosting than it was already as they headed towards Earth. But even if the happiness reached everyone inside, it didn't extend outward.

The dark eyes followed the ship with an expression that could resemble a hungry predator, and a psychotic one at that. There was anticipation in those that stood behind their owner, but it was sinister. The previous Decepticons had wanted the same thing as the Autobots but for different reasons and the killing had almost come as an afterthought. He was different. He had scoured every part of this galaxy and parts of others for followers who had the same, one purpose as him; revenge. The destruction would be swift even with every Autobot working together. And if the humans tried to interfere again this time… The idea of blood was fascinating; he had never seen anyone bleed before.

"When?"

The voice was low, with impatience and longing dripping from every syllable. He didn't bother to look at the one who had spoken; he had eyes only for the ship.

"Soon. Very soon. We just have to stick to the plan, and they will be ours. This plan calls for intelligence and patience, Captain. It is up to you to make sure you troops remember that."

All of the Transformers watched the ship for a few more moments before the captain spoke again.

"We know all that, sir. We almost failed the first part of the mission because of that idiot who decided to try attack…"

"Luckily he didn't succeed to mess up our plans… And he did add some damage which will help us immensely."

Again silence. The ship was almost out of view now. Just a little bit further, and the Autobots would be able to see Earth.

"Now."

That one word was like a switch. At once half of the troops behind him surged forward, eager to do what they had to.

"Captain, remember the plan. None of them are to be killed yet. Now is only the time for damages."

"Aye, sir."

A smile crossed his features as he watched the doom approach the unsuspecting Autobots. The smile was cruel and slightly amused. This would be fun… For him obviously.

_000_

"Optimus Prime!"

The voice was alarmed and it cut through the happy atmosphere as easily as a knife cutting cake. Silence came immediately as everyone turned to the speaker.

"Sir! We are being followed."

Surprise and whispers ruffled around but they stopped as soon as Optimus shot out his question.

"Friend or foe?" He was unreadable; no one could tell if he was worried or not.

"We don't know, sir. They are Transformers but their purpose is unknown and they are not responding to our signals."

"Signal them to back off if they don't want to answer us."

Everyone sat stock still as the signal was sent. They were all waiting, their breaths held. Waiting and hoping…

"Sir, they have disappeared."

Relief and sighs rang throughout the ship making it sound like it was windy inside. Then came a crash that seemed to shake the ship in two. One attack didn't end the shock though. The blasts kept raining on the ship, blow after blow that caused everyone to stay down where they had fallen. They had no time to fight back; they had no chance. All they could do was lie there and watch the ship being torn apart, their faces illuminated by the flashing red lights, some with smiles still frozen on them.

_000_

Finally the last impact came. It shattered whatever was left of the ship and most of that fell on top of those who had only ten minutes ago been happy and carefree. Now they were motionless and hurt; the humans were bleeding and the Transformers weren't in any better shape. In fact, the only one of them who had managed to stay conscious was Optimus. He couldn't move; the rubble and his injuries held him down and it was only a matter of minutes before he too lost consciousness. He couldn't think straight and that just made matters worse.

"Good gosh you weren't lying…"

"They're huge! Bigger than they looked on TV even!"

"What you think they're doing back here?"

"Frigging hell we can discuss this later! We first need to decide what to do with these… things."

"Well, I think we should…"

But Optimus never heard the rest of the sentence; he blacked out, leaving the three humans to decide their fate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Come What May**

From nothingness to sound; and a lot of it at that. The most prominent was a humming noise that he had heard before but that he couldn't place. Optimus opened his eyes to find himself flat on his back staring at a ceiling that was a dirty cream with various patches of black on it, which looked like they could be burn marks. He didn't have long to take in the sight above him, though, because as soon as his eyes opened an exited voice greeted him.

"Optimus! Hey you lot, the boss is awake."

"Hot Shot? Is that really you?"

Optimus sat up to find himself in what appeared to be a huge hanger of sorts. The humming, he found out almost at once, was coming from a machine that evidently had been used to fix them all up. But the thing that took up his attention was undoubtedly his team. They were _all _there; everyone from the ship but also those that had been left on Earth to protect it. Everyone seemed to be alright and mostly or completely healed. Optimus couldn't help but smile at the sight of his full team, who had all decided that their news was more important than the Autobot next to them and had all started speaking at once. All Optimus got out of it was a whole lot more noise.

"Hold it! One at a time!"

Everybody stopped talking and looked to see who would talk first. When no one volunteered, they took it upon themselves to be the first one. So again all the leader got was a confusing mass of voices. Finally, trying not to laugh, Optimus had to raise his hand for silence.

"Everyone will get their chance to tell what they feel is necessary to share. First, does anyone have any idea who attacked us and where we are?"

"We didn't see _who _attacked you guys, Optimus. All we saw was a mass falling down to Earth. By the time we got to decipher what it was, you had already crashed."

"So we immediately tried to find out where you guys where…"

"Which was kind of almost impossible, seeing as we hadn't paid much attention to where the falling thing was going…"

"Yes, thank you for that extra bit of information. As I was saying, we had almost began to wonder if you actually crashed when we got a call from the humans that manage this place. Apparently, some farmers found you in their field and they brought you in to the closest mechanic around, which is here."

Optimus remembered the voices of the three humans and a great gratitude overwhelmed him. He made a mental note to find these humans and thank them.

"Oh! And our human crew are all alright too."

"Very well. We shall have to find out more about our attackers. But first; hello to you, Earth team."

There was a chorus of hellos from all who had stayed on Earth. Optimus suddenly saw the Mini-Cons where there also; he hadn't noticed them at once because of their noticeably smaller size. Jolt was standing a little in front, so Optimus decided to address him.

"Well, Jolt. Any attacks or anything on Earth that could be linked to this?"

All the Mini-Cons shook their heads, though it was Jolt who gave the answer.

"No Optimus… We were discussing this earlier, before you woke up. None of us have seen, or heard of, anything that could be linked to this in any way."

The Mini-Con on Jolt's left added his input and Jolt nodded, half-translating out of force of habit.

"Yes, like Six-Speed said, we'd just started telling the others about some of our more… exiting adventures to see if they could make a link when you woke up."

Optimus nodded, satisfied with all of this. If the Earth crew knew nothing, then there was probably nothing. But he could still not shake the feeling that someone was missing from the crowd. He stared in inner puzzlement to where the Mini-Cons stood. That was where the problem was. It was too empty… Then realization struck.

"Oh! And how are the kids doing? They must have grown a lot since we left."

He was actually a little surprised now that he knew whom it was that he missed. The three Earth children had always wanted to be in the middle of it all when they had last been there, and he had almost expected them to be here now.

All the other Autobots lent in, their interests perked. They hadn't gotten to the topic of their three adopted members yet, and they were as curious as Optimus was to their well-being and absence.

No one spoke. Six-Speed stared at Reverb, who stood beside him, in utter silence and Jolt was now refusing to look at anything but the floor, which had apparently become very interesting.

"Jolt?"

Optimus Prime's voice had a note to it that demanded an answer. He was a little shocked; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all. And it seemed the others felt the same way; their eyes were now locked on Jolt in utter silence.

"Well… Uhm…"

Jolt was casting about for words or any help, but one look at his companions told him that he was in this alone. The other Mini-Cons and five other Autobots, three who had already been on Earth before, were now what made up the Earth team. It had changed so many times in the first one-and-a-half years; Autobots leaving and more coming to take their place. At least they had been a constant ruling body for almost three years now. Not that that changed the fact that Jolt was on his own now.

Finally, after another minute of desperately casting around for assistance in words, he couldn't take it any more and let it burst out.

"Oh Optimus Prime! We haven't seen any of them since the middle of last year! We honestly don't know what happened; one day they were there and then they all just stopped coming… We couldn't find them anywhere in town and we feared the worst! And… And then… Their parents contacted us. None of the three are allowed to see us ever again. Lori's family moved out of the town, and no one knows where! And Coby and Bud… I don't know if _they _are still here anymore."

Shocked silence followed this. No one except those who had been on Earth had anticipated this. They had known something was wrong from the way the Mini-Cons had reacted, but the children not being seen for a year and four months? Another surprise to add to their lists.

"You mean you don't know if the three of them are still even alive? How the heck is that possible?!"

"Calm down, Hot Shot! Yelling isn't going to solve anything!"

But even Override was upset; Lori had been christened as her 'little sister', and she did not like the fact that no one knew where she was.

"Uhm… I can answer one of the mysteries… I guess…"

Every face turned to the hesitant speaker. It was an Autobot known as High Fly who had spent most of his time before joining the Earth team being an airplane that flew to Japan every three days.

When he saw that everyone was now paying attention to him instead of Jolt, he became even more nervous and started to fidget.

"Oh spit it out already!"

Hot Shot got clunked over the head for his outburst, but it didn't bother him much. He needed to know what High Fly knew, and he needed to know _now. _

"Well… I…"

High Fly started, but then stopped again. The sight of all those eyes on him was very troubling. He considered keeping quiet and disappearing as soon as possible, but then he caught sight of Hot Shot's face, and decided he better tell all he knew; he had seen the brash Autobot in battle and quite frankly didn't want to be on his bad side.

"You see… I went back to my old hanger a few days ago to check that everything was still alright and all. It was pretty late, so most of the shops in Colorado were closed, but because of the late night flights the airport shops were open. There was a boy at the pharmacy who appeared to be trying to buy some medicine that needed a preference. I didn't see what he looked like, though. It seemed really important that he got it; he was quite frantic when he was told he couldn't get it. I was about to try and see what I could do to help when a car pulled up right next to the door. Someone opened the passenger side and yelled something like 'Never mind, it's too late! Bud, he's in hospital, come on!' And then they drove away."

More silence, this time full of worry. This day seemed to want to give the Autobots more surprises than they were comfortable with.

"Well… We know there's a really good chance Bud and Coby are still in Colorado then."

The statement was unsure and forced; a weak attempt to make the atmosphere less tense. It had been uttered by Scattershot who now stood nervously on the edge of the group, waiting for someone to smile and agree with him that they had a sliver of good news amongst all the bad and mystery. That remark never came. Instead, it was a gasped revelation from Jolt that broke through the silence.

"Oh no! I saw on TV that a teenage boy was admitted into hospital and is now in a coma that looks fatal. You don't think it was…?"

He couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. Every Autobot caught on to what he was thinking and they filled in his blank by themselves. Fear and concern leapt up in all of them, along with a desire for it not to be true.

"Wha… No. No it… It can't be…"

No one bothered to turn and look at who had spoken. They all knew it was Landmine, and they all heard the shock and disbelief in his voice that they were all feeling. But those who had been on Earth since the beginning of the Black Hole incident also felt some sympathy for the older Autobot; Coby and him had become close friends.

Landmine made his way over to Optimus, pleading in his eyes.

"Please, Optimus Prime… We have to find out… Right now! We need to find him and make sure…"

"Calm down. Nothing can be done while we are all panicking. I agree that we have to find out about Coby and Bud right away. Does anyone have any idea on where to find either of them?"

Not surprisingly, it was Scattershot and Jolt who got them all onto the trail.

"When they were still allowed to see us, Coby mentioned that he was trying to get a job at a mechanic shop with the name of Necro-fix. He was quite positive that the manager would hire him in the end. Maybe he knows where to find Coby?"

The first lot of information was given out by Scattershot and before Optimus even had to ask Jolt had told them everything else they needed to know.

"Yes, I remember that too! The place is run by Gerald Daverson who is a good friend of Stanton and who also has a cousin who is a reporter. That means even if Coby didn't get the job, he is almost sure to know who the kid in hospital is."

There was nothing else necessary. One look around the place and Optimus knew all those present would tag along and he felt no need to stop them. They needed to move quickly though. He just hoped the feeling of dread in him was a false alarm…

"Then to Necro-fix is where we are all going."

* * *

Ok you can relax now: the actual fic part of the fanfic is over. Like I said, I just need 5 people to want to read it and I'll hit you with the next chapter. Please note again that this is based on the English Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force. Again, this is my first ever fanfic and the plot of this story is really wishy-washy with a lot of holes and ditches. So feel free to flame and/or kill me, just don't make it too painful please.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tidings Of Disclosure **

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm actually writing another chapter. It's freaking me out, but I'm very flattered and thankful to all you people who are interested, I'll try my best to live up to your expectations. Ok, so here comes the next chapter in my washed-out-plot type of story.

Brace yourself.

* * *

Earth was as beautiful as they remembered it. Even the city should have brought them joy. But none of them were paying any attention to the scenery or the new additions to what had been their home for quite a while. They were all too busy keeping the small helicopter in view, and the parts of them that weren't focused on not losing their guide was consumed with worry.

At last they saw Jolt hover above a building and all of them sped up a bit, anxious to get there. But when they all reached Necro-Fix, they just stopped and stared at the closed doors. Now that they were actually there the truth seemed daunting. What if it turned out that their worst fears were true? That thought ate away at all of them. Hot Shot was the first to crack.

"Ok, I can't take this any longer. I _have _to know."

His voice seemed to awaken the others from whatever trance they had been in.

"Well we can't just burst in there. We'd confuse and frighten the humans."

"True… Any suggestions?"

"Uhm… We could yell for Gerald very loudly?"

Nobody even bothered to shoot that idea down. Fortunately, they didn't have to do anything in the end. It was a good thing they hadn't just burst in, because Gerald hadn't even been there. But he drove up about ten minutes after the Autobots arrived. Quite understandably he was a little surprised to find an array of vehicles and aircraft parked outside his back entrance. He got out to look them over, thinking they were all in for repairs and wondering how he would fit them all into his hanger. Sure, his shop was pretty big, but there were loads of them out there; they took up practically the whole back, which was saying something because the back stretch was nearly bigger than the workshop itself. He soon realized, though, that they weren't inanimate machines here for repairs. At first he thought he had mistaken his last cup of coffee for the Vodka he was saving for that evening; cars _talking _to one another? Luckily, Jolt spotted him just as he was wondering if he should try walking in a straight line to make sure.

"Over there! That's Gerald Daverson."

The poor mechanic nearly had a heart attack. Vehicles talking to one another was one thing, but when they started to talk to _him… _Seeing his shocked expression, Optimus quickly took over.

"Mr Daverson, please do not be alarmed. We are Autobots, and I am their leader, Optimus Prime. We just need some information from you."

His expression changed dramatically. Having a cousin in the reporting business, he knew almost everything that went on in Colorado, and quite a lot of what went on in the world. He, like many others, knew about the Autobots.

"Well! This sure is a surprise, and an honour, I can assure you!"

"Great, now that we all know each other, we need to know if…"

"Hot Shot! Stop being rude."

Hot Shot transformed and glared at Override. He hadn't come all the way over here and stood outside for ten minutes wondering how to get in with his nerves killing him just to make small talk.

"Look, all I want is the information. I'm not stopping the rest of you having a tea party or…"

"Hot Shot?"

"What now?"

"Shut up."

He glowered even more, but heeded her. Optimus quickly cut in before another fight could start; he knew everybody's nerves were shot.

"Mr Daverson, we came here to ask you a few questions as we heard you have a relative in the media business. This information is very important to us, and we will be very much obliged if you would give us some of your time."

"Please, just call me Gerald. Sure, go ahead and ask me anything. I'd love to help an Autobot."

He was thinking how good it would feel to rub it in his cousin's face that he had spoken to, and helped, an Autobot when all Adam had done was heard of them. He didn't say this out loud, of course. Instead all he did was head towards the building and open a window. At the curious, and slightly cynical, look he was getting from Hot Shot, he smiled.

"I'm just keeping an eye on my employees. Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

Optimus Prime transformed and, after some hesitation, everyone else did too. Now the backstretch was _very _cramped, but no one seemed to mind, if they even noticed at all. Reverb, who was looking inside the workshop, turned to Jolt and let what sounded to Gerald like a series of beeping noises. Jolt nodded and turned to Gerald.

"He said he could project an image of the workshop out here for you to make it easier, if you want."

Gerald just stared for a moment, obviously surprised into silence. Then he nodded slowly, still not taking his eyes off of Jolt. Reverb did exactly what he had said he would; project the entire south side of the workshop onto the outside wall closest to them. It was better than any surveillance camera, even without the fact that Reverb could rotate it to any part of the room when asked. Hot Shot had been quiet through all of this, but his patience had worn thin again.

"Ok, great. Now would you _please _tell us what we want to know?"

No one rebuked him this time and Gerald could see that everyone, including Optimus Prime, wanted the answers as much as he did; they were just more adequate at hiding their impatience.

"Right," Gerald said, sounding a bit nervous as he stared up at the towering forms above him. "What information can I give you that will help?"

Optimus Prime shifted forwards a bit and when he spoke his voice had a note that displayed the part of him that didn't want to know the truth.

"We heard that… a teenage boy was admitted into hospital and is now in a coma that may prove fatal. Do you know who… Do you know his name?"

No one moved, spoke or made any noise at all. They all just stared at Gerald, half anxious to hear his answer and half wanting to run away from his words.

"I do. Know his name that is. Poor boy."

Gerald stopped there, but seeing the faces of the Autobots he wisely chose to elaborate.

"He half drowned when he tried to dive for something he had dropped the day before. He is fourteen years old and his name," he paused, feeling the tension like it was fog, but then pushed on. "His name is Jack Terrance."

Relief washed over everyone, and they all just stared grinning. Coby was alright. It wasn't him in the hospital; he was ok. As they joked in giddy relief, Gerald was silently watching them. It was Jolt who noticed this first.

"Uhm… Mr Gerald, sir, is… is something wrong?"

"I need to ask you lot a question."

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him again. Even the look on Gerald's face couldn't dampen their spirits.

"Of course. Please do ask."

They had all presumed it was over; all the surprises and the shocks. They were very, very wrong.

"Was it one of you? Was it one of you who made that place collapse?"

Everybody stared at him blankly, even the Earth team. No one had any inkling of what he was talking about.

"Which place? I'm sorry, Mr Daverson, but I have no idea what you are talking about; what building and when was this?"

Gerald looked at them, then carried on. Obviously his curiosity got the better of him.

"That old building on the edge of town they were planning on turning into another shopping mall. Beginning of last year a man crashed his car into it and when hordes of people went to help him out the entire place collapsed. The man told my cousin that the reason the building collapsed was that his car had, after getting a life of its own and crashing into the building, transformed into a huge robot when the people came to get him out and repair the machines that had already been present there. The government stopped him and my cousin from giving out this information but…"

He trailed off and looked at the still bewildered Autobots. It was Scattershot who spoke up first.

"I can assure you, it wasn't one of us. Even if it _was _an Autobot, he would have contacted the Earth team. But as it is, we didn't even know about this incident. Sure, the mall was stopped, but we thought it had been shot down by the environmentalists or whatever."

Gerald nodded, finally satisfied with their answer.

"Yeah well, you wouldn't know about it. Only the selected government officials, a select few they needed for information or who were involved and, of course, my cousin, Adam, were told about it. The newspapers were never told any version of the story, only that the mall had been canceled. Even the man didn't get onto the front cover, let alone the boy."

Now that they had been told about it, they wanted to know all about it. For some odd reason, Optimus realized his feeling of dread had come back, but it was small and he pushed it away easily.

"Boy? What boy?"

"Tragic tale, even more tragic than the entire collapse of the building even."

He suddenly halted and looked at Optimus suspiciously.

"You won't rat on me, will you? No one is supposed to know about this."

All the Autobots agreed, in unison, that they would do not such thing and, satisfied, Gerald continued again.

"A boy, hired by some or other mechanic company, was one of the people who went to fix up the machines so they wouldn't cause any damage. He was right in the center, being small enough to work quickly through the debris, when the building collapsed. The steel supports ripped through his side and went as deep as to cut open one of his inner organs. It was a small cut into the organ, but it was enough to give him a sort of… disease I suppose you can call it."

Now that he was on a roll, it was almost impossible to stop him.

"This… illness… is, as you can imagine, very rare and it's also dangerous to him. A doctor explained it properly to Adam, but all I got was the simple version: Because the organ was sliced, it was damaged and also poisoned. To stop the poison killing the boy a special type of medicine has to be administered to him every two hours. It keeps him alive, but the discomfort cannot be taken away. Apparently, and I'm not sure this is true but I truly think it is, even before the two hours have fully elapsed he already feels pain, but if he doesn't take the medicine the pain will be, and I quote, 'the worst thing anyone can ever feel.' If he doesn't take it within the hour after his two hours have passed he's dead. Just like that."

More surprised silence greeted the last bit of news. It seemed that bombshells were being thrown at them left, right and center. The Earth team was the most disturbed about the latest bit of news as they had been there and yet still knew _nothing _about it. The other Autobots were also disturbed, and all of them were wondering if it _had _been a Transformer who had caused all the damage. Optimus turned back to Gerald.

"And you have no idea who the boy might be?"

The easiest way to find out what, or who, had made the building collapse was to ask someone who had been right there. And heaven knew they had to get to the bottom of this. To their disappointment, Gerald shook his head.

"Not even Adam knows who he is. Like I said, it was kept very hush-hush. And it's not like the boy stands out much in the town; he can lead an almost entirely normal life."

The Autobot team was a bit putout; they had thought they would be able to solve the mystery at once. But they were also relived that now, it seemed, they could go back to the old base and have a peaceful evening. But fate still had one more surprise to throw at them.

"Hey, don't you Autobots need a mechanic or something? You know, to help you out whenever."

Gerald was grasping for straws, hoping to get something else to use against his cousin. Optimus looked blankly at the human for a second, then answered slowly.

"Yes, we may need a mechanic from time to time, why?"

"Well, I have a great one for you to use. He's not technically employed by us; he's too young for a contract, but he's the best out of all of them. I'm not joking, this kid's a Einstein of mechanics."

Optimus was surprised at the offer-what in Primus's name made Gerald ask this?- but he didn't turn it down. He first shot a look at Red Alert, and seeing he was very prepared to have help, Optimus agreed.

"Great stuff! Ok, right, I'll show him to you know. Erm… could you rotate the hologram left please?"

The last part was directed at Reverb, who silently did as he had been asked.

What they saw now was a huge caravan-type vehicle; it was big enough to sleep at least fifteen people comfortably. A few people were working on it, most of them welding parts together.

"There. He's the one right at the top."

The human indicated was smaller than the rest but the welding mask hid his face. Even though they had been told he was very young, they could see he was keeping up with the adults without effort.

"They should be done soon, then you'll be able to see what he looks like. But please, don't look at his age. He may be just fifteen-odd, but he's the best we have in this place, I can assure you."

No one said anything; they were too busy trying to catch a glimpse of the 'Einstein of mechanics'. They didn't have to wait long, however. After about three minutes he switched off the welding torch and jumped off the roof of the caravan. He wasn't as short as they had first thought; in fact, he was pretty tall. At last, he pulled the front of the welding mask up.

His hair was longer, he was taller and much more handsome than before; he had grown into what was classified as 'quite a hottie' by Earth girls. But his eyes had stayed exactly the same; gleaming green and filled with dancing light. Those eyes destroyed all the doubt the Autobots had; the boy was undeniably Coby Hansen.

* * *

**PLEASE READ THIS! **I'm sorry for making you read more of my writing, but I have to apologize for a few things:

I'm sorry for any incorrect Autobot abilities (ie Reverb's projecting)

I'm sorry for any incorrect information like which Autobots remained on Earth etc

I'm very, very sorry for the weird illness I mentioned. Yes, I know it's really fictitious, but I had to do something that I knew I wouldn't get wrong in some way, which resulted in me making one up.

These apologies are asked for this chapter and every other one that follows because I know myself and I know I'll get things wrong. Please forgive me and try to overlook it as much as possible or, if you really can, pretend I'm not lying through my teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Beyond What You Know **

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Guess who's back! Once again, I'm really, really sorry about all the flaws in chapter 3. The fact is, there will be flaws in this story, no doubt about that. So I'll understand if you leave the story now and never look at it again, because I feel like a retarded idiot for flawing Transformers.

**Yami Bakura:** Oh Ra, you can't even write a fanfic about a simple TV show not many people even _know _about.

**WP:** Bakura?! What in the name of conjunctions are you doing here? This is a _Transformers _fanfic. It has _nothing _to do with Yu-Gi-Oh.

**Yami Bakura: **Humph. If it was Ryou instead of me, you wouldn't be complaining.

**WP: **That's… uhm… not… uh… true…

**Yami Bakura: **You lie as well as you write.

**WP: **Well I'm _sorry, _but someone who eats _raw _steak the way you do has a good reason for being high on my caution list.

**Yami Bakura: **Just write the bloody washed-out fic and stop drawing out the torture.

**WP: **Yeah, you're right… I should be writing a fic…

Brace for impact!

* * *

The harsh light of the sun didn't reach the form who stood, shrouded in darkness, a little off from Earth. The same, cold eyes that had watched the Autobots's ship watched the Earth, a small smile on his face.

"Sir… They're all alright. And… They found one of the humans. I told the Captain not to let them find him but he…"

"Silence."

The Transformer fell silent, a slightly apprehensive look on his face as he eyed his leader.

"You have much to learn about revenge. For now, the best thing we can do is let those fools reunite with their humans friends. It will mean we don't have to hunt them down when the time comes."

"Yes sir."

Silence once again fell over the two. The leader continued to watch the Earth, a smile threatening to cross his face. Mercy was not known to him, and he also had almost no knowledge of impatience. When the Autobots fell at his hands, he would have plenty of time to make them suffer. But for now, he had to make himself unknown. And, if everything went according to his plan… Well then not even Primus himself would be able to help the fools.

"The boy. His condition is the same as it was the last time I asked?"

The messenger hesitated, and his caution increased. The first time he had seen his master truly angry was the day the one they had sent to Earth disobeyed and tried to take matters into his own hands. But he had said yesterday that it was now to their advantage…

"Yes sir… exactly the same."

The smile came now, as cold and dark as his entire being.

"Perfect. They will be ours sooner than they realize what is happening."

The caution vanished and a hunger took its place on the messenger Decepticon's face.

_000 _

"You can't just burst in there, for the fifteenth time! There are too many other humans there. We can't risk it."

Landmine sighed loudly and retreated from the door again. Ever since, ten minutes ago, they had found Coby all they wanted to do was rush to greet him. But common sense told them it would be plain stupid. Common sense didn't make it any easier to wait even longer, however. And this time Landmine was the one who was the most impatient, which was rare for the usually levelheaded Autobot. Gerald had gone back inside after they had told him that they would speak to the mechanic after hours. Gerald had assured them that Necro-Fix closed in twenty minutes, but that Coby stayed after hours most times. Twenty minutes was stretching forever, and they were all afraid that Coby would chose today _not _to stay longer.

"Look! They're starting to leave!"

A jolt ran through all of them. Finally, _finally _they would talk to Coby again. Any minute now… Then Jolt brought up a thought of his that made them less sure.

"Will he really want to see us?"

All of them turned and looked in surprise at the Mini-Con.

"Well… They didn't come to see us for a year… Maybe they… I mean… How do we know they still want anything to do with us?"

The answer to that was that they _couldn't _know if Coby, Lori and Bud still wanted to talk to them, to be part of their team… The mood, which had risen at the sight of Coby, dampened very quickly. No one said anything; they just continued to stare at uninteresting things like the ground or the building wall. Gerald was the one who broke their silence.

"Hello again. Don't worry; they'll all be gone in a while. And I chatted to Coby; he is staying later today. I'll open the back doors so you can go in when you want to."

Entry would have been a problem if the doors weren't almost as big as the wall itself, but now it would be very easy. The news that they could now see and hear Coby through natural means and without having to look through small windows would have created even more excitement before. But now it just increased their doubt. After some hesitation they all moved forwards a bit so they could see through the door, but not too far that they would immediately be seen if someone looked that way. Coby was sitting, cross-legged, on the floor, his full attention on an object in his hands. He had a screwdriver tucked behind his ear and one of the object's wires in his mouth. The scene was so familiar that it caused a slight pang among the Autobots.

"Hey Coby! You're going to get electrocuted if you keep putting wires in your mouth."

The speaker was a young man with dark hair and a devilish grin on his face. He had obviously been on his way home because he had his bag slung around his shoulder. Coby made mumbling noises, but when the man raised his eyebrows he removed the wire so he could talk.

"I'll only get shocked if it's _on, _Harry. Besides, I need it elevated slightly."

Coby's voice was deeper than it had been, but not much. It sounded smooth and natural now. Harry grinned and sat next to him.

"I'd offer to hold it, but I'm not touching your gob."

Coby, now with the wire back in his mouth, mumbled something that sounded along the lines of "Gee, thanks."

"Has your brother called you again?"

Harry's eyes were on Coby's top pocket where they could see his cellphone sticking out a bit. Coby shook his head, then took out the wire, which no longer needed to be elevated.

"Nah. I think I got it through to him that the spool he needed was on top of the refrigerator after he called me the sixth time."

Harry laughed, clapped Coby on the shoulder and got up to join the group that had formed near the door. They started making plans for the next day, but Coby didn't seem to want to join in. Two minutes later, when he was obviously nearly done with his repairs, one of the guys at the door yelled at him.

"Hey Coby, your mini-me is here!"

Coby ignored the leering voice and continued to work. A person entered, his head held high, also ignoring the remark that had been flung at him. He looked about in his early teens, with longish blond hair that was covered with a beanie. His eyes were fixed on Coby and he walked very quickly. Only when he was next to the working boy did Coby look up and smile a greeting.

"Hey Bud."

Bud grinned slightly and sat next to his brother. He had a bag with him that looked quite heavy, but he was more interested on what Coby was doing.

"Oh! Did you finish your movie?"

Coby looked at the bag in Bud's hands, but Bud shook his head.

"Nah."

His voice had also deepened at bit and, like his brother's, he sounded better because of it. Coby had abandoned his work and he looked at Bud in surprise.

"Why not? I thought your aim was to finish it today."

"It was! I'm really bummed I didn't get to. Now it won't be finished before next week."

He sighed, causing his hair to flutter a bit.

"Well why didn't you finish it?"

"I forgot where the spool is."

Everyone at the door cracked up, and the Autobots had to fight to keep themselves from laughing too, which became harder as they saw the look on Coby's face.

"Oh Bud. I _told _you it was on the fridge, like, seven times."

Comprehension dawned on Bud's face; a look the Autobots had seen lots before, but made no difference to its comical appearance.

"Oh _yeah… _you did tell me that…"

Coby sighed in exasperation and grabbed Bud, giving him a noogie.

"You dolt. You'd lose your head if it wasn't stuck to your shoulders."

Bud complained at the position he was being held in, but they could see that Coby wasn't hurting him in the slightest. As Bud, now free, leapt playfully at his brother, the others at the door hollered their goodbyes and left. Finally, the Autobots were alone with both Bud and Coby. Optimus Prime had never shied from anything that had to be done because it could be uncomfortable, and this time was no different. He stepped into the building, with most of the Autobots following behind him. None of them said anything; they just continued to watch the pair before them softly scuffling with each other. Finally Coby threw Bud off of him gently, claiming he had to finish his work before they could go. Bud grinned and picked up his bag, then turned towards the back doors, thinking he'd be able to shoot a nature shot or something in the meantime. However, he froze completely as his eyes fell upon the Autobots. His arms fell lamely to his sides and his eyes widened. He stood there for a few seconds and then, not turning around, tapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Coby."

Coby didn't respond; he was once again caught up in fixing whatever it was that was before him.

"Coby!"

"What now?"

Coby was sounding irritated, but his gaze still didn't waver from the object in front of him.

"Coby, am I hallucinating?"

Finally Coby looked up, following his brother's gaze. If he had been sitting on a chair, he would have fallen off it in shock. As it was, he was already on the ground, and so he had to settle for wearing a look that resembled his brother's immensely.

"If you are… then I am too."

At this, Bud gave a yell of joy and shot forwards. Soon all of the Autobots and the two humans were greeting each other the way they had thought before the doubts had come. Landmine was overjoyed to see Coby, and the boy returned the joy with gusto. Bud was like they remembered; a happy, hyperactive smile that was attached to a face and body. Coby and Bud were so happy to see them that the Autobots felt ashamed that they had thought the two humans would abandon them. After the exited greeting subsided, Coby, still grinning, turned to Optimus.

"When did you guys get here? And how on Earth did you find us?"

It was Optimus who explained everything, from the attack to how they had followed Coby's career wishes to him. He left out their doubts and fears that it was Coby who had been hurt; the kids didn't need to know that. However, Coby looked puzzled after the explanation.

"You mean you guys have been out there for nearly half an hour? Why didn't you just come straight in?"

The Autobots looked guiltily at each other; why had they thought a ridiculous thing like they had? But they owed it to Coby and Bud to tell them the truth.

"We… Well we were scared you wanted nothing more to do with us."

Bud opened his mouth in surprise; obviously he had never even thought of hating the Autobots. Coby looked the same way, which made them feel even more embarrassed. It was Jolt who tried to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Well you see, you three just suddenly stopped coming to see us; Lori was even moved out of town, so we thought maybe…"

Instead of looking hurt or laughing loudly at that, Coby and But exchanged a look, and to their surprise they saw Coby's guard going up slightly.

"So… You have no idea why we never came back?"

Jolt shook his head, as surprised at Coby's reaction as everyone else.

"Colonel Franklin said nothing to you?"

At the second no, Coby and Bud relaxed completely.

"Oh well, it wasn't because we didn't want to go back. You see, there was an accident and there is some evidence it was caused by a Transformer. Colonel Franklin came to the three of us, wondering if we had more information on the subject. Once our parents heard about the damage… Well they freaked and all of us were banned from ever seeing you guys again."

While the others looked even happier and explained to Coby that they knew about the accident, Optimus stayed silent. There was something in Coby's story that didn't quite gel. Why had Colonel Franklin involved the kids' parents? Why had they 'freaked out' more this time than before? And why, if the Colonel wanted information, had the Earth team been left in the dark? But he had always been able to tell when one of the kids lied, and Coby was telling the truth this time, so Optimus let it slide.

"Well, Coby. I think the base, not to mention our ship, may need a bit of repairs done. Are you up for the job?"

All of the Autobots stared at their leader. Optimus had always stuck to the rules and respected the children's parents' wishes, but now here he stood offering Coby a job when he was not even supposed to be with them. Coby grinned.

"Is water wet?"

Optimus smiled.

"Alright then. And Bud, I haven't forgotten about you. You can come too. Just please, if your parents reinforce the rule that you can't be with us, you must obey."

Ah, some of the old Optimus was showing through again. Bud whooped happily and both him and Coby promised they would heed their parents should they make the law again. But for now, the Autobots team was complete, par one member, and the atmosphere was again electrically happy.

* * *

Chapter four done! Sorry about the ranting on top; my anime addiction spans many shows. Once again, I'll apologize for flawing Transformers and hope I don't die in my sleep because of Karma. Until next week when my torture continues.


	5. Chapter 5

**Joy Cometh Again **

I'm really sorry I broke my update-a-week streak, but I didn't have a chance last weekend as I went on a camp. So here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it at least a little bit.

Brace for impact!

* * *

Coby was like a Godsend at the base; everything was fixed or in the process of being fixed even before they could think of asking him to fix it. Bud was, as always, their comic relief. The Autobots soon found out that although the two brothers had grown and become a bit more mature, they were still almost exactly the same as before. The two of them also had quite a bit of news to tell them; what happened there, the goings on at that place, who had started a family in the four years they had been away. It turned out that Professor Suzuki and Colonel Franklin had had a little girl at the end of the previous year, and that the two were hoping for another child, this time a boy. In fact, there was almost no silence as Bud was very eager to share almost every little snipped of information that had taken place.

He would not, however, talk about Lori or about the accident that had happened with the collapsing mall. As soon as the subject was brought up he went silent and either went off very quickly to do something he had 'forgotten to do', or he changed the subject extremely abruptly. Coby was a bit more helpful about what had happened to the boy. When he wasn't too absorbed in his repairing, he told them quite a bit about the boy's condition, to the obvious discomfort of his younger brother.

"Is it true that he's in pain about fifteen minutes before he can inject?"

"Yeah, I heard so. It starts off quite lucid; soft stabs of pain that are quite far apart. As it gets closer to the two hours, it becomes worse and more frequent. But after the injection the pain disappears quite quickly."

At the question of how he knew so much, he simply said that Colonel Franklin had told him quite a bit of information when he had asked if the three children knew anything about the accident.

"The boy has quite a huge scar down his side, which is about the only thing, except for the two hour disappearances to the bathroom, that tells him apart from the rest."

However, Coby went as silent, if not more, as Bud when the conversation turned to just who the boy might be. Apparently the two were not comfortable at all with discussing it, and so the Autobots gave up trying quite quickly.

Now that they knew Coby, they knew that if they let him be he wouldn't stop until he passed out from exhaustion. So now they made him take regular breaks, and by the third day he didn't complain much any more. They still had to give him a glare every two hours when his break came up, just in case he decided to purposely forget. Bud also seemed to watch Coby every time two hours came around, probably to make sure his brother got the breaks he deserved, even if they were only about ten minutes long.

On the fifth day Coby had almost finished with the one side of the spaceship when he encountered a problem.

"That valve is extremely important, and there's no way we're going to find here in Colorado. We're going to have to go further North and try there."

"Are you sure? That's quite a long way to go for a thing that small…"

"I'm positive. Trust me on this one."

And so the day outing was planed and in the end Scattorshot, Override, Jetfire, Optimus Prime, Coby and Bud, who refused to be left behind, were the ones who would go. The journey there didn't take long, much to the disappointment of the two boys who had immensely missed the flights.

"So… this is the town?"

It didn't look like much from above, but as soon as they had landed it revealed to be very glamorous indeed, with things that interested them all so much that getting to the mechanic store was very slow work.

"Hey Coby, look! There's a modeling thing at that place tonight. Oh please can't we go and watch?"

The rest tried very hard not to laugh as Jetfire reprimanded Bud quite sternly; the expression on the teen's face was very comical, and his stuttered objections that he hadn't meant what it sounded like didn't help the seriousness of the situation at all. In the end, the rather unpleasant conversation was ended by Coby's watch's alarm going off. Coby, who had been rather quiet for the last ten minutes, explained that he had made the strange-looking watch himself. That was all they managed to get out of him then, as Bud then said that he really had to use the bathroom and that Coby had to come along. When the two finally returned (Bud had apparently locked himself in a cubicle somehow) the conversation went back again to Coby's strange looking watch, sparing Bud any further reprimands.

When they finally found a shop that sold the valve they were looking for, Optimus Prime watched the two boys quite closely. Some of what they had told the Autobots lately didn't add up that well, the most recent example of this being Coby's watch. The older Hansen had explained that he had made it himself from scratch, but that only wore it because it acted up regularly. He insisted that the alarm had been just another one of those many mishaps, but Optimus wasn't so sure. The conversation was finally dropped, but the suspicion, and guilt of suspecting them, had remained.

It was decided that the two boys would walk back to the place the Autobots would all meet up and, if necessary, transform. Jetfire had been drawing a bit of attention as he flew back and forth to stay with the rest of the group- and it wasn't often one saw a jet, let alone one who refused to leave the sights of the town behind. When they got to the hall that would later be hosting the modeling show, Bud went bright red and stared at the ground. Coby wasn't mean, but he wouldn't be a brother if he had let it slide.

"Oooh look Bud, the models are there for a rehearsal!"

"Shut up Coby."

"Don't you want an autograph?"

"Shut UP Coby!"

"But Bud, they're in their clothes and everything."

Bud growled and flung himself at his brother, who had been expecting the attack and was ready. The two of them tussled a bit; Bud apparently not angry enough to try and floor his brother. It ended quite suddenly, not because Override was hissing at them to stop, but because Coby just stopped in mid wrestle. His eyes went wide and his face paled as he stared at something at the modeling venue that the rest couldn't see.

"What's wrong, Co? See one you like?"

Coby didn't even give a sign that he had heard his little brother, which made Bud stop smiling a bit, and peered at Coby.

"Coby? Are you Ok?"

This time the older boy nodded, but his gaze didn't waver from the spot for another half a minute or so. Then he turned to Optimus, and his face was expressionless.

"Optimus? Could we stay a little bit longer please? I need… to see something."

Optimus was as surprised as the rest, but he gave his consent all the same. Coby attempted a smile, but it was tight and apprehensive. He left the stunned group behind and walked towards one of the security guards at the hall. The two talked for a while, then Coby turned back towards them and the security guard went inside.

"Coby, what in the world did you…?"

Coby looked at his brother with that same, slightly blank look, and his reply was soft and simple.

"I asked him to get one of the younger models out here so I can talk to her."

Bud looked gobsmacked.

"Is… Is this still to tease me? 'Cause Co-"

"No, Bud, this isn't to tease you any more."

Bud's face transformed into a smile.

"So she's for you is she? No, now Coby, didn't you here what Jetfire said to me about…"

Bud trailed off as Coby took a step forward, his eyes trained on the door to the hall. It opened, and the security guard came out, with the model following him.

"Alright, I heard someone out here was looking for m…"

She stood stock-still in the doorway, her eyes wide and unbelieving. Coby looked at he straight in the face, breaking the silence after what seemed like forever.

"Hello Lori."

There was another second of stunned silence, then Lori erupted with a squeal. She flung her arms around Coby and hugged him so tight the rest thought she might suffocate him. HE didn't seem to mind, though, and he hugged her back, almost as tight. When she let go, she was crying, the tears making a line down her face. Coby held her out at arms length and grinned.

"Jeez, Lor. You've grown."

He obviously meant that she had grown in the last year and a half since he had last seen her, but the Autobots saw only how much she had grown in the four years since they had said goodbye. She was taller, with longer hair and even though she had been pretty before, she had now grown into something that closely resembled a goddess. She laughed at his remark, wiping the last tears from her eyes, then noticed Bud.

After the greetings were over some five minutes later, Lori confirmed that she had been dragged there against her will.

"This place actually sucks big time. Sure, it's bigger and fancier than Colorado, and here I actually live in civilization instead of out in the wild, but I actually hate it here. I want to go home. My real home."

She didn't have much other news, and preferred to ask what was going on in her hometown. Bud was only too happy to re-tell all his gossip to someone who didn't know it. After Bud had run out of steam, Lori cautiously asked about the boy that had been in the accident. The Autobots all listened closely, hoping to pick up some information that they hadn't been told before. They were disappointed, however, as Lori apparently already knew everything that Coby had told them and he didn't elaborate for her either.

"Can't I come back to Colorado with you guys?"

Her eyes and voice were hopeful as she gazed at Optimus.

"Won't your parents worry though?"

Coby and Bud were both looking at her, both were wracked with excitement and the same hope she had.

"Nope, I'll tell them I've gone to the model director that lives near them. He doesn't believe in any technology other than the camera, so he doesn't have a phone meaning they'll have to phone me on my mobile."

Their bubbles were burst quite crudely.

"Absolutely not."

"Oh Optimus Prime!"

"Please, Optimus!"

"You know I won't be any trouble, please!"

He silenced them gently, yet firmly.

"No, Lori. I've already got Coby and Bud lying to their parents, I won't allow you to do the same. I'm sorry, but that's that."

Override was absolutely silent, and they knew she was as disappointed as the two boys that her 'little sister' wasn't allowed to join them. And so it was with a sense of sadness that they said goodbye to her. As she went back inside, Coby suddenly grinned and turned to Scattorshot.

"Hey, Scattorshot? Is it just me or was there a big, wooden box in the junk yard down the road?"

"Yes… there was a box there. Why?"

"Do you think you'll be able to carry it home? I need it."

Looking surprised, Scattorshot said he would be able to carry it easily and so the two went off in search of it. Bud sighed and shook his head, not totally succeeding to hide his smile.

"What's he up to now?"

* * *

Dadada daaaa! And I'm done again. Thanks to every single person who has read this, it means a lot to me that you guys are still alive after reading it. Next chapter coming ASAP.


	6. Chapter 6

**

* * *

**

Smiles Of Sorrow

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

You see? I'm being a good girl and updating on time XD. Before I bore you with the usual tedious crap, I want to thank GrimlockX4 out here in the wide open. You've been there from the very start and the comments are always very, very helpful. Thanks a million and a half, man you have no clue how much I appreciate it.

This chapter won't have much action in it; it's more a filler to tell more of what's been happening in the past year and a half that the Hansen boys thought a little too personal to share right up front like that. There will also be some cute moments (nothing bad, naturally) but I won't give anything away here.

Brace for impact!

* * *

"The speed limit is enforced for a reason, Bud."

Bud pouted and leaned back in his chair, giving up on trying to make Jetfire go faster. Coby snorted, trying hard not to laugh, but failing. They were on their way back, Coby having gotten his box, which was now safely being carried by Scattorshot. It had caused a few raised eyebrows, but neither Scattorshot nor Coby would say anything about the matter. That didn't mean Bud didn't try to make them talk, however. They had spent the first half of the journey listening to him try at least seventeen different ways to get his brother to talk, each in detail. He had finally given up on Coby, but had almost immediately started on Jetfire. However, to Coby's amusement and Bud's disappointment, Jetfire would not go any faster than he already was, no matter how Bud begged.

"Wing Saber would've." Bud sulked.

Coby rolled around laughing at the reply Jetfire gave to that; the two Autobots hadn't gotten on well the last time they had met.

"Alright Jetfire, I think he gets it."

Jetfire shut up immediately at Optimus's comment, even though it hadn't been free of humor.

"Hey Coby," Scattorshot called from his position hooked to the bottom of Optimus. "How long will it take to replace the valve?"

"Uhm… Probably only an hour or so."

"Only?! I can't believe you're going to spend an hour to replace a thing that small."

Override sounded completely astounded at the news anyone would _want _to spend that long fiddling with machinery. Coby grinned.

"It's really cool; all the stuff that's involved with the making of this ship. And besides, if I don't, who will?"

They landed and Coby immediately set off to put the precious valve in a safe spot near the ship, Bud close on his heels. Scattorshot, in the meantime, was getting Coby's box gently removed from him. Hot Shot shook his head.

"You lugged that thing all the way back here? Hell, it must be important."

Scattorshot started humming and hawing something about the box, shifting very uncomfortably as he did so. Hot Shot grinned, but Jetfire was more suspicious.

"What does he want it for, anyway?"

"One of his… ex…experiments I…I suppose."

Scattorshot was known to be one of the worst liars in the team, and so he didn't lie at all usually. Now Optimus was also intrigued, but he said nothing.

"It's just a box. What would he want it for?"

Jetfire kicked it gently to illustrate that the box wasn't made of very strong wood, and he was extremely surprised when the box gasped.

"What the… Did you… hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Scattorshot's voice was panicky and he answered Jetfire's question too quickly. Now Optimus stood up.

"Scattorshot. Open the box."

"R…right now sir?"

"Yes, right now. Right here."

Scattorshot's face was mortified as he bent down and opened the lid to the box.

"Uhm… Hi Optimus."

Lori waved sheepishly from her sitting position in Coby's box.

'Lori? Woa! Long time no see!"

Over all the greetings Lori got, no one could get a word in edgeways, but when they were all done, Optimus definitely had some things to say.

"Lori, I specifically forbade you to come back with us."

Lori bit her lip and looked away from Optimus's gaze. Optimus was about to continue when the doors opened and Bud and Coby came in. The two stopped dead in their tracks, took one look at the exposed Lori and the angry Optimus and turned right around, intent to walk right back out again.

"Oh no you don't! Coby, Bud, get back in here."

The two slunk back into the room, looking very sheepish, and stood next to Lori on the frontline.

"I'm presuming you know about this too by now, Bud."

Bud opened his mouth to speak but Coby cut across him. There was no way he'd ever let an innocent person take the fall. Especially not his little brother.

"No, Optimus. He knew nothing about it before until about two seconds before we came through the door. And Scattorshot didn't want to either; I forced him. Honest."

Optimus found some of his anger slipping away as the older boy stared right back at him. He was protecting all of the other three that had had a part in the plan.

"I suppose you forced Lori to get in the box as well?"

Coby nodded at the same time Lori shook her head, causing him to elbow her, which changed her shaking to a nod in a split second. Optimus was now trying not to smile, which was very hard since Hot Shot was snorting with laughter. He couldn't stay mad at the kids, no matter what they did. And then there was the part of him that wanted Lori there with them…

"Will it make any difference at all if I tell you Lori has to go home? The truth, please."

The three looked at each other for a second then gave Optimus the truth he had asked for.

"Not in the slightest."

"Nuh-uh"

"Nope."

Hot Shot was laughing himself silly by now, and the other Autobots weren't exactly solemn. Optimus sighed.

"Alright then, I'll make this easier for all of us. Lori, you can stay."

Lori squealed in delight and hi-fived Coby while Bud did a lap of honour around the room. Override looked just as happy as the kids, and the others were all grinning too.

"On one condition."

Optimus needed to talk a little louder than usual to be heard over the noise. Everyone turned to him, and there was caution on all three teen's faces.

"You all can't use Lori as an excuse to neglect your work. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded, Lori grinning widely.

"Right then. Coby, don't you have a ship to fix?"

"Yeah, I do. You two coming?"

"Do you need us?"

"I won't refuse the help."

"Then sure. I'll be there in a few, Ok?"

"Thanks. Come on you."

Coby grabbed Bud in a gentle headlock and dragged him out, Bud trying and failing to get loose, both laughing the whole way.

000

"Hold this, please."

Coby handed Lori a part, not noticing the grimace that crossed her face as she held the oil coated piece of the ship. The two were sitting next to the damaged space-ship, Coby preoccupied entirely with what he was fixing at that moment. Lori was sitting next to him, watching his actions and helping him out when needed. To anyone else it might have been very dull, but she had been in that position before and at that moment she was grateful for the chance to think. Bud had gone off to get a milkshake after he had gotten very bored indeed. Lori smiled slightly as she remembered the antics the younger boy had pulled trying to annoy Coby. They had worked, and Coby had thrown a spanner at Bud. Obviously, some things never change.

"What?"

Coby was looking at her, smiling slightly as he noticed she had been grinning. She blushed slightly and shook her head.

"Nothing. Just remembering stuff."

"And here I thought you were laughing at the way I re-wired this piece." Coby joked.

Lori giggled, handing him back the piece she had been holding quite gratefully. Coby couldn't help but notice that his hands brushed hers as he took it back, and he busied himself with the repairs again. The last time Lori and him had been alone together… No, better not think about that. That was a year and a half ago. Before she had moved and become a model. He of all people should know how much could change in a year, and what model isn't swamped with admirers? Then again… No, better not think about that either; that was forbidden territory.

"Could you hand me the smaller screwdriver?"

Lori watched as Coby worked gently with the small parts and suddenly realized how much better he had gotten since the Autobots had last been here. And even then, he had been an excellent mechanic. Not that that had been the only thing Coby had been good at… Why on earth was she thinking about _that _now of all times? That was a year and a half ago. A year and a half with no contact at all… Better not think about that.

"How's it going?"

Hot Shot, Optimus, Override and Jetfire all came in and studied the ship.

"Going good. I'll be done with the left side by tomorrow."

Red Alert joined the group, his eyes looking critically over the repairs, making Coby quite nervous.

"Damage control?" he asked.

Coby rattled off a long list of things that nobody else even attempted to understand; he could've been speaking Spanish for all they knew. But Red Alert looked satisfied, and so they took his word for it that everything was alright. The Autobots then went to the other side of the room to discuss weather to take the badly damaged wall on the west wing out or to repair it. It was then that Bud came back. He stormed through the door and his face was a mixture of anger and hurt. Coby looked up as soon as he came in, and straightened up at the look on his brother's face.

"What, didn't they have choc-strawberry?"

Bud sat down on the chair across from Lori and said nothing, his arms folded and his face studying the ground.

"Bud?"

Coby watched him, trying to read from his brother's expression what had happened. Bud didn't look up as he answered.

"Dad's back."

"Ah."

Coby turned away without another sound and began to fix the ship again. Lori and the Autobots, who had also turned to Bud at his fiery entry, looked at each other in amazement. This was something that not even Lori knew about. She wanted to know, of course, but she knew better than to ask. They would tell her when they wanted to. Optimus also stopped Hot Shot with a shake of his head as the Autobot had opened his mouth.

"Some things we don't have to know right away, Hot Shot."

Bud sat down on the ground next to Coby and took over Lori's job of handing over tools, as silent as his brother beside him.

000

It was dark already by the time the Autobots made Coby go home. He would have stayed longer if he could, but they had been trying to get him to go for the past half an hour. He knew it wasn't personal; they just wanted him to get some rest. Bud was silent as he walked next to his brother and Coby could feel the dread and fear emit from him like a stench. They rounded the corner to their house and Bud stopped dead in his tracks. Coby looked at him, then continued to walk.

"Stay here, I'll see if it's safe first."

Bud looked stricken as his brother went in without him; he didn't want that to happen. Bud raced after Coby and crashed into him as he stood in the doorway. Coby grabbed his arm to stop him from falling and placed his free finger on his lips.

"Shhh, you don't want to wake him."

He spoke in a whisper and his eyes looked upon the form on the couch. Mr Hansen lay, sprawled out, on it, his mouth slightly open. He was a mess; unshaven and dirty and they could smell the alcohol from their positions in the doorway.

"I can't believe he came home after only a week of drinking. Last time it was three."

Bud's voice was as hard as his gaze as he stared down at his father. Bud had always thought of him as a role model. Until he had started getting as drunk as a skunk every night. Then, when their mother had finally told him he couldn't come home drunk any more, he started the lifestyle he was living now; staying at the pubs day in and day out until he was sober enough to remember he had a home to go to. Bud had taken it harder than Coby had, and now practically hated the man that lay before him.

"Mom's car is gone; he'll be here soon. Want supper?"

Mrs Hansen had obviously done what she did every time her husband came home; run off to the pharmacy to get him some aspirin, then gone to Tim's house. Her oldest son would comfort her and she would usually sleep there for the night. She didn't know what Tim did after she fell asleep, however. Sure enough, Bud was just forcing down the last of his sandwich that Coby had made him when Tim's blue car pulled up in the driveway. Coby was on his feet in seconds, Bud not slow to follow.

"Bud, go upstairs."

Coby's voice was still low, but now it had a note of urgency in it. Bud didn't budge, even though he was shaking at the knowledge of what would come next.

"Where is that frigging ass?"

Tim exploded through the front door, his face murderous. It didn't even calm down at the sight of his brothers in the doorway.

"Where is he?"

He bellowed that last question, making Bud flinch. Tim seemed to have forgotten what had happened the last time he had tried to 'make his father pay'. Drunk as he might be, Mr Hansen was still bigger and stronger than his son.

"You know I won't let you do that, Tim. Remember what happened last time?"

Coby stared straight into Tim's eyes, his calmness not wavering for a second. Tim just snarled.

"I don't care what happened last time. He has to stop doing this to mom. And to the rest of us. You know exactly what he does, how can you stand there and _defend _him?!"

"Because he's still our father, Tim, no matter what he does. He had to cope somehow, and this is his way. Sure, it's the worst thing he could ever do to us, but that doesn't give us the right to beat him up."

Tim took a step forward so he was directly in front of his younger brother.

"He deserves every blow he gets! He shouldn't 'cope' this way. And anyway, what the hell do you know about _coping? _How the hell would _you _know how hard it's been for the rest of us since last year?"

Tim usually looked out for his younger bothers like he would himself, but when he got angry nothing mattered except what he had on his mind then. At that moment, it was revenge on his father. Unfortunately, Mr Hansen chose that moment to groan, alerting Tim to where he was. Coby leapt forward and grabbed hold of Tim's waist, stopping him in mid leap. Tim snarled and pushed Coby away so forcefully he was flung back into the table. Bud gasped, his eyes wide. Alcohol may turn his father into a drunkard, but anger turned Tim into a monster.

"Bud, get upstairs. NOW."

This time, Bud obeyed and sprinted up to his room. He curled up on his bead and shut his eyes, trying to blot out the sounds of the fight that was still going on downstairs. His shoulders began to shake as he heard Coby once again defend his father. Coby. For a year and a half he had been the only thing keeping that family together. He was the one who helped his father, comforted his mother, kept Tim from doing something a lot of people would regret and helped Bud with everything from food to homework when his mother was away, too tired or too busy crying. Coby was looking after all of them, which was something no teen should do. Especially not when there was no one left to take care of Coby when he needed it. He finally buried his head under his pillow and somehow, even he wasn't sure how, fell asleep.

000

Bud dreamt he was running down his hallway, which was somehow so long it never seemed to end. In the distance he could hear his mother crying, a sound he had heard very often that past year. He didn't understand why he was so anxious to get to Coby's room; it was his mother that was crying. Then he heard Coby scream in pain and he thought his heart would stop. He ran faster, finally bursting through Coby's bedroom door. Coby was gone; the entire room was empty of people and somehow Bud knew his brother was dead. He flew out of Coby's room and back to his own where he fell onto his bed and began to cry, feeling himself drift off to sleep again.

Bud sat up straight in bed, shaking and crying. Had it been a dream, like all the others? He was off of his bed in a second as he began to walk quickly towards his brother's room. The entire house was silent and dark, a sign that it was very late at night or early morning. Bud's hand trembled as he gently eased open the door to Coby's room. He sighed in relief and lent against the door, looking again at the sleeping form of his brother. Again, it had just been a dream. Coby had always been a heavy sleeper except to some things, which woke him up in an instant. His brother opening his door at strange hours and then staying to watch him sleep was obviously one of those few things.

"Bud? Are you ok?"

He sat up in bed and looked at his younger brother, still a little asleep. Bud jumped a bit, but then nodded.

"Yeah. Just… Bad dream."

He turned around and started to go out, but Coby stopped him.

"Hold on. Come here a sec."

Bud obediently turned and walked towards Coby's bed. He suddenly remembered all the other times he had walked the same path. Before Coby had been scared of a lot of things, mainly ghosts and stuff like that. Bud had loved to tease him about it endlessly, as he had no fear for such things. There had been one thing, however, that Coby had not feared that Bud had been petrified of: thunder storms. Coby had constantly reminded him that it was just weather and it could do nothing to him while it was so far away, but somehow his brain had never quite grasped that fact. Until a year ago, when he had learnt what true fear really was, he had been afraid of those storms. On nights that storms appeared he would wake up and go to Coby's room, telling his brother it was just t make sure he was alright. Coby, knowing of his brother's fear, had always asked Bud to sleep next to him in his bed for the rest of the night because he, Coby, was scared of the storm. Bud had been only too happy to agree, silencing the knowledge that Coby was pretending to be afraid only to comfort him. Now he lay next to his brother again, wishing it was still just a storm that scared him.

"Coby, is dad an alcoholic?"

Coby didn't reply at once, and Bud looked over to his brother, who was staring at the ceiling. In the dim light of the streetlamps, Coby's face was unreadable.

"I don't know, Bud. I don't think so. He has to force himself to drink; remember, he never has liked alcohol."

"Then why, Co? Why does he do this to us? To you?"

Coby shook his head, making a swooshing sound as his head stroked the pillow.

"Look, don't worry about it, OK? We'll be alright. Dad will stop soon; I'll make him. That means Tim will be back to normal and Mom will be happy again too. I'll take care of you, Bud, I promise."

Bud felt like demanding why it had to be Coby's responsibility when he had enough of his own but he held his tongue.

"Goodnight, Co."

"Night Bud."

000

The following day was, to the two boys' utter delight, the last day of school before their summer break. Bud didn't even want to go, but Coby was adamant; there was no way he was going to suffer if Bud didn't too. Bud then made plans to go and play soccer with his friends, and so it was alone that Coby arrived at the base. Lori was already there, as she didn't belong to that school anymore.

"Hey Coby, is this radio fixable? If it is we can actually have some music in this place, instead of it being so silent."

"Let's see… Yea, it can be fixed really easily. All you have to do is replace the energy source with one that has electrical charge in it."

Lori looked blankly at him, and he grinned.

"Just change the battery."

She went bright red, muttered "Well you could have just said that in the first place!" and walked off to find a new battery. Coby laughed and shook his head, sitting down in front of the spaceship and began the repairs where he had left off the night before. Lori came back with the radio and set it down on the table before switching it on and sitting beside Coby, taking up her position of 'nurse'. The last few notes of some unknown song floated out of the radio before the DJ came back on.

"Now here's a saucy number! Bryan Adams with 'I Will Always Return'. Enjoy!"

'I Will Always Return?' Coby thought. The last time I checked, that song was that slow… His eyes widened as the music started; it had been exactly the song he had thought it was.

"_I hear the wind call your name _

_It calls me back home again _

_It sparks at the fire, a flame that still burns _

_Oh it's to you I'll always return…" _

Lori felt herself redden slightly at the second line. First yesterday's thought and now this song? What the _hell _was fate doing to her?

"_I still feel your breath on my skin _

_I hear your voice deep within _

_The sound of my lover a feeling so strong _

_Oh it's to you I'll always belong…" _

Coby looked without seeing at the mass of wires before his face. It was a sappy love song, so why on earth was it making him replay all of _those _memories through his head? Maybe there was an ultrasound wave that had traces of hypnosis in it…

"_Now I know it's true, yeah _

_My every road leads to you _

_And in the hour of darkness, darling _

_Your light gets me through…" _

It's talking about some other darkness, Coby told himself sternly. Not the darkness in my life right now, not at all. It's a song. A stupid song.

"_I wanna swim in your river _

_Be warmed by your sun _

_Bathe in your waters _

'_Coz you are the one…" _

Lori suddenly realized that she had seen Coby swim only once before, that time at the beach that they thought they had found the Atlantis seal. He had looked like he was having so much fun in that water, with only his bare torso showing, gleaming in the sunlight…

"_I can't stand the distance _

_I can't dream alone _

_I can't wait to see you _

_Yes I'm on my way home…" _

I already am home, thought Lori. I'm here, back in my home with Coby… Oh stop it! That was a long time ago, stop it!

"_I hear the wind call your name _

_It calls me back home again _

_It sparks at the fire, a flame that still burns _

_Oh it's to you I'll always return…" _

Coby felt himself blush. He was _actually _blushing. Because of a song. A song that reminded him of what had been… FORBIDDEN TERRITORY, he reminded himself forcefully.

"_I wanna swim in your river _

_Be warmed by your sun _

_Bathe in your waters _

'_Coz you are the one _

_I can't stand the distance _

_I can't dream alone _

_I can't wait to see you _

_Yes I'm on my way home…" _

Lori suddenly realized that she wasn't hot, she was blushing. She was thoroughly alarmed and was utterly grateful that Coby hadn't seemed to notice.

"_I hear the wind call your name _

_It calls me back home again _

_It sparks at the fire, a flame that still burns _

_Yeah, I'm on my way _

_I will always return _

_Yes I will always return _

_I've seen every sunset _

_And with all that I've learned _

_Oh it's to you I will always, always return" _

Coby nearly kissed the radio he was so glad that song was over. He turned to Lori and found himself staring straight into her eyes. Somehow they were shaded, like on that night on top of the Cobybot…

"Coby…"

Whatever she was going to say he would never know as Jolt chose that exact moment to come in and ask joyously if they wanted cookies. The two of them looked away from each other and continued to work, Lori now munching a cookie. Neither of them wanted to know what had just happened. In a sense it was lucky then that Bud spared them their thoughts.

"Hello Bud, want a cookie?"

This time Bud wasn't angry, but there was something unnatural in his eyes and in the way he refused. Even Jolt saw it, and he wasn't known to be the most observing when he handed out his cookies. Bud exited the room quite quickly, avoiding looking at Coby just in case. Fortunately for him, Coby was absorbed in his work again. He wouldn't be absorbed for long, though, as Optimus came in about ten minutes later.

"Coby? Is something the matter with Bud? He's acting very strangely."

Coby looked up from his work and at once put down his tools.

"Leave it to me."

Lori and Optimus followed him into the other room where the rest of the Autobots watched him come in. They had obviously also seen the change in Bud's personality. Coby silently walked over to his brother who was sitting and staring at the ground.

"Bud, what happened?"

"Nothing. I'm tired."

"Bud. I know you better than that. What's wrong?"

"_Nothing, _Coby, I'm tired from the game, ok?"

Coby was about as fooled as the Autobots had been at Bud's explanation, but he alone had a fair idea of what had really happened.

"He found you in the park, didn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just tired."

"No you're not."

"Oh, really? What am I then?"

Bud had become more and more irritated as Coby had continued to press, and the Autobots thought it would be wise for Coby to back off now as Bud was sounding really mad. Coby did no such thing.

"You're broken, Bud."

For the first time ever the Autobots experienced a truly angry Bud. He leapt up and faced his brother, anger flaring in those usually bubbly, friendly eyes.

"What the hell do you know about being broken, Coby? Everything's alright to you. You always know _exactly_ how to fix_ everything, _don't you? Well guess what, you can't fix this, so just shut the hell up."

"Bud, you know that's not true. I know what you're feeling right now, alright? Just tell me what happened."

"Tell you what happened? You now what happened Coby! You were right there when it _happened, _right in the bloody center! Couldn't you have kept your big nose out of it all? Couldn't you have stayed on the sidelines? No, you just _had _to try and get more glory for your already oversized head! You say you'll take care of me, but all you ever do is take care of yourself."

A pin dropping would have sounded like a brick in the silence that followed Bud's last remark. They could see Coby was trying to remind himself that Bud didn't mean what he had just said, but he still looked hurt.

"You know I'll never stop, Bud. All that anger isn't made for me, it's made for yourself and everyone else in your world. Grow up from the child your anger is making you and see that."

Bud screamed in anger and lunched himself at his brother, pounding every inch of him he could find with his fists. This was nothing like the friendly tussles of before; it scared all those who were watching. But even as Landmine took a step forward Coby caught both his brother's wrists. Bud struggled to break free, but Coby held on. And then, Bud truly snapped. One minute he was a ball of fury trying to pound the calm figure that held him and the next he burst into tears. Coby let go of Bud's wrists and pulled him into a tight hug. Bud didn't object and buried his head into his brother's shirt.

"I'm sorry! Coby, I'm so s…sorry…"

"Shh, it's alright. I know, I know. It's alright."

Bud just cried harder, his hands holding tightly onto the shirt that clothed his big brother, the only one who truly knew, truly understood and would always truly look after him, no matter what. Neither of the Hansen brothers seemed to remember that Lori and the Autobots were still standing there.

000

"Sir, all three humans are reunited with the Autobots."

He didn't even bother to open his eyes or shift his lazing position as he smiled.

"Well well… Our plan is falling nicely into place. The ship?"

"Almost fully repaired on one side, sir."

"Excellent. We can't let them get too far with the repairs, though. Captain, I think we should stop the naughty earthlings from lying to dear Optimus Prime, don't you?"

The Decepticon's smile was evil and filled with anticipation.

"Send the first line of our troops, along with our newly acquired Mini-Con. Tell him that it's his job to make all the lies stop."

"Yes sir."

"And Captain?"

"Yes sir?"

The Captains guard went up very quickly; one never knew with his master.

"Remember: no killing yet."

"Yes sir."

He couldn't help but laugh at the simplicity of it all. Those foolish Autobots would be his very, very soon indeed. He just wished he could be a fly on the wall when they found out about those kids' secret…

* * *

Good gosh I wrote a lot! Whoopie, chapter done . I'm going to try very, very hard to update again next week but with all the exams… If I don't, know I'm very sorry. I have sort of made up for it with the extra long chapter, haven't I? Of course I have XD. Anyway, a sad thought is that I only have enough plot-line left for another four chapters or so. So Life Holds On will soon be finished. Sad, but very true unfortunately. Any way, I'll update ASAP. Hope you guys enjoyed it, even if just a little bit.

xx WP


	7. Chapter 7

**Tides Of Tears**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Hey there everybody and welcome to Chapter Seven! Whoo! Yea /claps hysterically to dead silence/ Ehem. Yes. Well. Here's chapter seven. Hope it doesn't cause any injuries due to it's crappyness.

Brace for impact! (Why do I keep on saying that?)

The silence was only broken by the soft sounds of the outside world. They felt so far away from those everyday sounds; like they belonged to a world thy had no right to be part of. A world, incidentally, that they had felt right at home in a few minutes ago. Lori sat amongst the Mini-Cons, her arms listlessly at her side. The Autobots sat in a half circle across from her. They were all engaged in their own thoughts and feelings, with the only part of their minds not lost in themselves focusing on the door that concealed Coby and Bud. They were shocked by the scene that played out in front of them. After a while Coby had remembered about the others being there, and he had calmly told them everything that he thought they had to know, still holding a sobbing Bud. They had left the two alone, with more than enough to think about. Lori's thoughts went something like Bud's had. She was so absorbed, so wrapped in her own emotions and fear, that she didn't hear Optimus speak to her.

"Lori? Lori?"

She snapped out of her reverie and looked up into Optimus' eyes.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded her head automatically; her guard making her pretend. But half way through her nod turned to a shake.

"No," she said softly. "No I'm not."

All of them looked at her, at a loss for words, yet knowing somewhat what she was feeling.

"Why Coby? Why does the responsibility of a whole family have to fall on the shoulders of a sixteen year old? It shouldn't; it's not right! Especially when he's…" she caught herself. "Got problems of his own."

Optimus and Jetfire exchanged a look, then Optimus sent a look Override's way. Getting the hidden command, Override turned to Lori, but her words died as the door opened. Coby came out, his head lowered and his shoulders sagging. He lifted his head and they saw the truth his smiles had been hiding for so long: the stress and worry and plain sadness.

"He fell asleep," he said quietly, his voice almost emotionless but with a note that told them he did not want to talk about it. Not that subject, not right then. They respected his decision and said nothing; they just went back to work or found something to keep them selves occupied. Coby tried to focus, but he couldn't blot out the looks he got from his team.

000

The three children where elsewhere in the base, leaving the Autobots to themselves. They were discussing the events of the day in low voices, even though Jolt assured them Coby, Bud and Lori were well out of escort. Things just didn't seem to add up properly; there were places that fit and others that just refused to slide into place, like a jigsaw puzzle piece that wasn't meant to go there but was being forced to anyway. Optimus was thinking deeply, trying to make those jigsaw pieces fit, only half listening to the conversation that milled around him like a breeze.

The seriousness was only interrupted once by Jolt, who said he was going to town to buy some more cookies. Everybody had just stopped and stared at Jolt, and then they had burst out laughing. The joy was short-lived and everybody became sober even before Jolt was fully out of sight. The conversation continued; the worry and debate bouncing off the walls and returning to those who uttered it, which added to the level of unease. How were they to know things would get so much worse before the day was done?

"Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime, come in."

Jolt's voice cut through their conversation. They turned to the screen and saw his face there. He was looking very uncomfortable and skittish.

"Optimus Prime… We have a… situation on our hands."

"Situation? What type of situation?"

Jolt sent a sideward glance to whatever was next to him and then shifted uncomfortably.

"I was on my way back when I saw him on the side of the road. He doesn't look too… able to take care of himself. But I need permission to take him home, as it might expose us to his family, which is what we don't want."

"Jolt… why wouldn't we want his family to know we are hear?"

Optimus had a hitch, and it was proved right a moment later not by Jolt, but by the man they were talking about. He was so obviously drunk that even they could see it without any trouble at all. The worrying fact was that it was…

"Mr Hansen."

Some of the other Autobots' faces turned to disgust as they stared at the man who had once held a form of respect in their lives, because Bud and Coby had thought so highly of him. Now…

"Oh… So you guys are back are ya?"

He was slurring quite badly but they could still make out what he was saying. He grinned lopsidedly at them and it was quite obvious that Hot Shot was soon going to demonstrate some of the swearwords he had learnt. Optimus cut in before any of that could happen, keeping his voice calm and reasonable.

"Yes, Mr Hansen we are back on Earth."

He didn't know what he would say if the man asked him where his children were. He could not lie so directly, although he knew that his team would be ready to. In the end he didn't have to say anything, because Mr Hansen, drunk as he was, figured it out for himself.

"So thatz where my kids are, huh? Thought they were at the mall. Hic."

Even Hot Shot was too disgusted to say anything, and Optimus thought it wise not to speak either and just nodded. Mr Hansen seemed ready to have a nice, long conversation with the Autobots, not noticing their disgust or the sullen vibe they were sending out to him.

"So how they doin'?"

Hot Shot broke his unusual quiet streak at this; it was just too much.

"Oh they're doing great. Bud's only cried for an hour today and Coby's so carefree and _happy_."

Optimus shot Hot Shot a warning look, but he was seething in anger and not paying any attention to his leader. Mr Hansen, however, was too far-gone to get the sarcasm in his voice.

"Good! I was hoping Co would continue to take the stuff and be a good boy. Responsible, that kid is. Well, I better get going. My car is lonely without me."

Jolt hurriedly told him that he would rather hire a taxi for the man and disconnected from communication. The conversation stared among the Autobots again, this time they were voicing their outrage instead of their worry. Optimus stood, frozen, exactly where he had been when Jolt had said goodbye. Suddenly, the jigsaw piece was becoming very, very clear.

"Call Coby."

Everybody shut up at once, but Reverb obeyed when Optimus didn't change his position or sternness.

"_Colonel Franklin said nothing to you?" _

"_Only the selected government officials, a select few they needed for information or who were involved and, of course, my cousin, Adam, were told about it." _

Coby and Gerald's words replayed in Optimus' head. It was making sense in a way that Optimus didn't want it to.

"_You were right there when it happened, right in the bloody center! Couldn't you have kept your big nose out of it all? Couldn't you have stayed on the sidelines?"_

"_A boy, hired by some or other mechanic company, was one of the people who went to fix up the machines so they wouldn't cause any damage. He was right in the center, being small enough to work quickly through the debris, when the building collapsed." _

Coby's footsteps were coming closer and Optimus could sill feel the caution and surprise in the room.

"_It starts off quite lucid; soft stabs of pain that are quite far apart. As it gets closer to the two hours, it becomes worse and more frequent." _

"_Another feature on the watch is that it counts down from two hours with the alarm." _

"_Bud really looks after Coby, hey? He makes sure Coby takes that break every two hours." _

"Optimus? Is something wrong?"

Coby's green eyes stared in confusion up at him, his hair tussled and an oil stain on his ear.

"_The boy has quite a huge scar down his side…" _

"Coby, show us your side. Now."

Forget being polite, now was the time for answers. Coby and the rest of the Autobots stared at him, Coby's face shocked but otherwise unreadable.

"Coby, _now." _

Every eye turned to the boy as he hesitantly lifted up his shirt, his face turned to the ground.

000

Jolt quietly crept out of the Hansen house, glad that no one had been there. It would have ruined everything that they had built up to protect Coby and Bud. He was too busy sneaking out and trying to find a place to transform that he didn't see Mr Hansen's new car- which he had insisted on bringing home with him- turn to watch him leave. If someone was watching, they would have sworn the car smiled smugly, like one would after they had completed the job he had been set. If Jolt had been paying any attention to what was behind him, he would have seen the car, which was unusually small, pull out of the driveway a bit to watch him sneak down the road.

Things are going well!

That thought flashed through both of the machines minds as Jolt transformed and began to take off. Jolt, however, would be the one who was wrong.

000

Shock more complete than _anything _ever before was overpowering them all. No one could tear their eyes off of the boy in front of them. Coby was extremely interested with the ground beneath his feet, while everyone else was focused on Coby's side.

Or, to be more accurate, the scar on his side. The imperfection that cursed him ran from just above his ribs down to the middle of his hip. Even though it had happened a year ago, it looked so red and so raw that it was hard to believe that it hadn't happened a few minutes ago.

"…Coby…"

Landmine choked out the word with fear and worry that portrayed what everybody was feeling. At last, Coby looked up, letting his shirt drop to his side as he did.

"Now you know."

His voice was quiet and full of some emotion that they couldn't quite place. Sadness? Fear? Pain? Condolence?

"Coby? You like, in trouble or something?"

Lori and Bud came in, obviously to find out why Coby had been summoned. They stopped and stared around, immediately sensing the bad atmosphere.

"What…?"

Lori looked expectantly at Coby.

"They wanted to see my side," Coby said calmly.

The effect this had on Bud and Lori was quite astonishing. Both turned very white and gave each other alarmed looks before looking at Optimus as if to hear his judgment.

"Wait… You two knew?" Hot Shot managed to get out.

Both of them nodded, this time not letting Coby cover for them. Coby looked at them as they confirmed their involvement, then sighed.

"I think it's time we told you guys the truth. You've probably clicked by now that it was me who tried to help out at the crashed building. When I was in hospital Colonel Franklin came and told us about the suspicion that it was a Transformer that made the whole thing collapse. Our families freaked out, banned us from ever seeing you again. Lori's parents were so scared you'd come back and do the same to her that they moved without telling any of us where she was going." He sighed and continued.

"My family… didn't really react well to it and we… just started to fall part. But we all agreed that no one was to know who I was in the media sense, which is why we didn't tell you."

Coby's gaze was pleading forgiveness as Optimus suddenly saw the entire jigsaw complete itself in front of him; every single thing made perfect sense now. All the Autobots were still shocked, but they were truthfully telling the kids they didn't feel betrayed. Coby looked quite relieved, until Optimus spoke again.

"Well Coby, seeing as you know more about your… condition than anyone else, you'll understand why I have to agree with your parents and tell you to stay away. It's for your own health."

Coby's face changed to a look that told them he wasn't going to take this too lightly. Frustration and anger appeared in those green eyes as he faced their leader, and they all suddenly realized that to prevent things like what Optimus had done was the _real _reason Coby had told them nothing.

Coby struggled to keep his anger down. He was so sick and tired of everybody he knew doing this to him. As soon as they found out, they treated him like a child. He just wanted to live like he was able to; _normally. _Why couldn't anyone see that? Bud grabbed Coby's wrist as if to stop him from doing anything stupid. Coby looked down at his brother's pleading face and reluctantly let his anger go, letting disappointment fill its vacancy.

Optimus looked at the human before him and suddenly realized his mistake. Coby had had the illness for all the time they had been back and he had never let him down before. Why should he now that they knew about his secret? It just wasn't fair, and Optimus wanted to kick himself for even thinking it. And from the looks on the other Autobots' faces he knew that they felt the same. He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Coby. I was just… shocked. I was being unfair to you and I apologize. If you still want, we'd be glad to have you stay."

The other Autobots grinned and Coby's face split into a smile.

"Hmmm… I don't know… What do you think, Bud?"

"Well… I mean, it's kinda hard work you know…Lori?"

"You're right… Maybe we should all just leave… It might be too much work later…"

The three looked at each other and burst out laughing, Coby turning to Optimus.

"Like it or not, we're staying right here."

000

"What do you mean, they let him stay?"

His arm hit over the Decepticon before him like he was nothing more than a stack of pillows. The rest of his team cowered against the walls. For the second time, their leader was truly angry. If they had any compassion in them, they would have felt sorry for the messenger who was the unfortunate candidate to deliver the news.

"They were supposed to kick him out of their sight! They were supposed to cause him so much anger that he would follow them when we made our move! And you come to me telling me they are letting him stay?!"

"P…please sir… He might still follow them. He's still part of their team now, so they might let all three of the humans go along."

The Decepticon leader put his face very close to his petrified troop.

"Believe me, Blatscar, it will be in your best interests to make sure they go along."

"Y…yes sir."

He sighed in relief as his leader stepped away from him.

"Captain!"

The Decepticon stepped forward hurriedly, but not too far forward. He didn't seem too keen to be battered around like his team member.

"Send the second line of troops to their positions, and keep the third group alert."

"Yes sir."

"And make sure they move quickly; we can't let them get too far ahead with the repairs. But I trust you know what to do?"

His tone suggested that he better know, or suffer the consequences.

"Yes sir, I do."

"Good, then go. And get the rest of these idiots out of my sight too."

The rest of the Decepticons were only too happy to escape.

000

"Coby, your leg is going to fall asleep."

Bud's voce was joking as he turned away from the Monopoly board in between Lori and himself to grin at his brother.

"Yeah, trust me I know. But I have to keep my foot on that wire while I meld the others, otherwise she won't ever be fixed."

Bud grinned but said nothing more as Coby once again put a wire into his mouth. He eased his foot even further into the side of the ship so that his leg was now stretched right out and very taunt indeed. The rest of the Autobots, who were all lazing around in the same room, smiled and continued to mess around. Everything was peaceful until Coby's watch's alarm went off.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Coby was staring down at his arm in distaste as everybody looked at him in alarm. Coby shook his head.

"I can't move from this spot. I seriously can't."

Bud began to panic somewhat.

"But… Co… You have to! It's been two hours! You-"

"I know, Bud." Coby's voice was calm. "But I can't move."

Lori swallowed and bit her lip, obviously not very happy with what she was going to say next.

"You'll… have to inject here then."

Coby hesitated as he looked at her. Bud had told them that the one thing his brother hated to do was inject in front of others; he hated their reactions. But he knew that there was no other way…

"In the refrigerator in the back."

Landmine suddenly looked closely at Coby. He saw that the boy had gone quite pale, and, if his eyes didn't deceive him, his fingers were shaking slightly. Lori returned with a cooler bag and set it beside Coby. No way in hell was she going to inject him.

Coby wiped his hands on his pants and, avoiding everyone's gazes, unzipped the bag. He pulled out a small, sealed bottle that was filled with a liquid a colour that resembled old blood. The bottle had a small hole in the top that was sealed with the same type of material used to seal boxes of milk. The thing he pulled out next, however, made the Autobots understand why Bud and Lori weren't too happy to see Coby inject.

The needle was _huge_;bigger than the Transformers had ever seen and it made a few of them queasy just looking at it. Coby professionally pulled off the protective top of the needle with his teeth and then stuck it through the hole's seal on the top of the bottle. The entire contents went into the needle before he pulled it out again, put the bottle back inside the bag, and rolled up his sleeve. At this point Lori looked away; one witness of this was enough to last her a lifetime, thank you very much. The rest were too absorbed by the wonder and fear of it all to look away.

Coby gently wrapped a length off cloth around his arm and then stuck the needle in. Very deep. Bud shuddered and looked away also, his face twisted with unease and horror. Coby pushed the contents into himself, evidently not noticing the stares that followed his movement or that counted the numerous scars on his arm already. He calmly took the needle out of his arm, pored some disinfectant into the lid of the needle, put the lid back on and packed it all up into the bag again before pulling his sleeve down and continuing with the fixing work.

"Easy as that," was all he said when the Autobots continued to stare at him in horror and awe.

Aren't I sooo good? Wait, don't answer that --. Ah well, at least I updated against all odds and managed to write another long chapter. Even if it is 3331 words of crap… I'll update soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Rationale Revealed**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's still me here. I do have some good news though: (or bad news, whichever way you chose to see it) the chapters from here on are going to have a bit more action than the last two. And so, without further ado:

Brace for impact!

"It looks more like he's about to sneeze!"

"I was _smiling, _not _sneezing._"

"Sorry, Bud, I'm with Lor on this one; you look like you're about to sneeze."

Bud snorted and playfully shoved his brother.

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

Coby laughed and took the photograph out of his brother's hands, putting onto the pile that they had already looked through. The three of them were lying on the newly acquired sleeper couch looking through a pile of photographs from before. Bud was in the middle of the two, so it was he who held the photographs for them to see.

"Oh my gosh. I forgot I had that shirt. It's hideous!"

"I think you look cute in it," Coby teased.

"Yea Lor! Remember the dance you made up the time you first wore that shirt? It went-"

"Let's just move on to the next one, shall we?"

Grinning at each other, Bud and Coby obeyed her and put the photo on the pile with the others.

"Hey check! It's your Cobybot, Co."

"Aaw, you look so small next to it then!"

"Yea, he does. I still got you to promise to make me one. A promise you didn't keep, by the way."

Coby smiled affectionately at the sight of his old creation.

"Man, I actually miss the guy. Pity he was chucked…"

"You could have told Mom you wanted to keep him as garden furniture; it looks quite comfortable to sit on the top."

Bud gave a sly glance first at Coby and then at Lori, who both avoided looking at each other and mumbled something about it being 'sufficient' to sit on.

"Hey, you three. Coby, you finally chilling out?"

"Hey, Hot Shot. Yeah; I've been banned from going _near _the ship for a while. Apparently I 'deserve the longer break'. Whatever."

The other three laughed at Coby's grimace on the last word he spoke. It was very clear he didn't agree with that statement. Bud suddenly stopped dead and squinted, seeming to strain his hearing.

"And now?"

Coby had noticed Bud's movement and strained his ears to, trying to hear what had caught his brother's attention. Bud put a finger to his lips and pointed to the radio, which was currently emitting the daily news. The usually dull news reporter was somewhat livelier today, and was enthusiastically charging into the second part of his top story.

"The fire was seemingly started by human means, and authorities suspect petrol involvement, as so far the flames are forming a widespread circle with a fairly big clearing in the middle, which was visible before but that is now hidden by the smoke. No progress has been made with the putting out of the flames and the public is urged to stay and keep others away, as it is extremely dangerous, although some cars, suspected to be owned by reckless teens, have been seen coming out of the fire."

Coby was dead silent as the reporter went on to another story, but Lori and Bud wanted to make their views heard.

"Oh my gosh! That sounds horrible!"

"What idiots would drive straight through the fire?"

The other Autobots had joined them and they stood and listened to the children's comments, not wanting to interrupt. Hot Shot, however, did not seem to pick up on this silent agreement between them, as he joined in the conversation quite loudly.

"Adrenalin junkies or people with IQs lower than that of a cotton swab."

"What do _you _think, Co?"

Coby was silent for another moment, and then answered very slowly.

"I don't think the fire was started by humans, and there is no way it started naturally."

Confusion flashed through almost everybody there.

"But then what…?"

"I think," Coby said, just as slowly. "it was started by the so-called cars that appeared out of the fire."

Realization dawned on all of them, and it was suddenly quite obvious that Coby could very well be right.

"You think the cars are Transformers?"

Optimus was looking directly at Coby, who looked back and nodded.

"No human would be stupid enough to start a fire that big so far out of the civilization of Colorado, not even if he was mad or high. And the cars were only seen coming _out _of the fire, not going in."

"But if it was humans, they should have been seen going in; there are firefighters everywhere." Bud concluded.

"Let us assume they are Transformers. How did they get into the fire without being seen, and why would they be in a fire in the first place?"

Silence reigned once again in their group as each of them tried to think of a reason. It was Lori who got there first.

"The clearing! They said it was pretty big. And…" her eyes widened. "Covered in thick smoke."

"They're… using it as a landing site and the fire is their cover..."

Scattorshot walked over to the computer screens and started to type a lot of commands. Everyone else was talking amongst themselves, wondering and worrying. Everyone except…

"Coby?"

The teen raised his head and looked into Lori's quiet face.

"That day by the new mall… It was a Transformer, wasn't it?"

Her voice was so soft at the last bit that if anybody hadn't kept quiet as soon as she had started talking to him they wouldn't have heard it. As it was they had all silenced, and they all looked at Coby for his answer. He just nodded, avoiding their eyes. Optimus cleared his throat to ease some of the awkwardness and then turned to Scattorshot, who was still on the controls.

"Any sign of who they may be or what they want here?"

The Autobot continued to type for a while and then shook his head.

"There's nothing, but they're managing to get the fire under control."

"So… What do we do now?"

Bud was gazing up at Optimus with the question his mouth had uttered written all over his face. Optimus stared back at him for a moment then answered him quietly.

"We wait. They are here for a reason, and so they will contact us. We just have to be ready for whatever they are planning."

"Optimus… who do you think they are? I mean… Galvatron and Starscream were destroyed… right?"

Optimus nodded, his eyes not really seeing his team before him. He too, was wondering who was planning this new attack and why. Could it be that one of his enemies had survived? He doubted it… but they _had _shown the slightly irksome talent of surviving their apparent demise before…

Coby surveyed Optimus Prime as the great Autobot thought. He had learnt in those past months to read people's emotions; he had had to as most times they had tried to put on a brave face for him. He could tell Optimus was worried and at as much of a loss as them all, and the thought put a wave of unease in him. Had what had happened to him just been the opening act? And, if it was, was this the main play or was there still more planned for them? He looked away and tried to shut out the questions that he needed to answer but partially did not want to.

"So now we wait?" Hot Shot asked.

"So now we wait." Optimus agreed heavily.

000

They didn't have to wait long.

Two days later, when the first attack of worry had begun to fade in some and grow in others, the computer screen began to crackle.

"Optimus Prime! We have an unknown frequency trying to make contact with us."

Everybody rushed to the screen, Coby still covered in oil and axel grease.

"Let them make contact, Scattorshot."

The Autobot obeyed while everyone else stood in anticipation and apprehension. Without realizing it both Lori and Bud moved closer to Coby, their subconscious mind taking comfort in the fact that he was there. The screen flickered once. Twice. A third time. And then came the moment they had both been dreading and expecting.

The Decepticon that sat before them was both a stranger and yet somehow familiar. He was reclined slightly and regarded them with an air of elevated importance, and his smile spoke of the things they didn't know. He was relaxed, yet deadly, and a colour that none of them could really place; a mix between dark purple and red. Their tenseness seemed to amuse him, and it was obvious he was not in a rush.

"Ah Optimus Prime. We have the pleasure of meeting at last."

"Who are you and what do you want on Earth?"

The Decepticon just laughed with another air that suggested he had hoped he could play with them this way.

"You'll find out what I'm here for soon enough. As for who I am… You should be able to guess that. Let me give you a small hint. We have both met before in a way, but you have never seen _me_ as a whole Transformer before."

Blank faces were turned to others as the Autobots tried to make an inkling of sense out of what he had just said. He, however, didn't seem to want to linger on that subject.

"Let's catch up, shall we? Still have all your team members? Oh good, I see they all made it back from the mission. And what about your human members?"

His cold eyes turned to where Coby, Lori and Bud stood. Coby's face remained expressionless, but the Decepticon got a reaction out of Lori and Bud, who both flinched and looked away.

"Leave them out of this! What do you want?"

Another laugh that was free of all humour.

"Still the great protector I see. Well, I'm quite hurt your communication skills haven't improved, Optimus. But never mind, it will just mean I have more time to kill you."

His smile widened as he said the last sentence and his eyes widened slightly in a sickening way.

"Oh yes, Optimus; I'm going to kill you. You, and every other who stood by you, no matter how long it takes to track them down. You see, my purpose is revenge; it's what both my halves had in common. And revenge is what I'm going to get. But first, before I start on you and your mechanical comrades, I'll take revenge on the race that joined you in our war. Those humans won't stand a chance. Until we meet again, Optimus Prime."

The screen flickered again, and he was gone. A chill had entered the room during his talk, and it now refused to leave.

"Scan the Earth for any large aircraft that will be able to go into space."

"You think they'll kidnap the humans and kill them up there?"

Optimus nodded.

"It will be easier for them and harder for the humans… And there will be no other humans to interfere."

"We found them, Optimus. It's definitely a spaceship, and it will be ready to leave Earth's orbit in fifteen minutes."

"Can you tell how many are in there?"

"About thirty Transformers and fifty other forms that are giving off heat but are not classified as anything in our data banks."

"That must be the humans. Alright team, it's time to go. Coby, will the ship fly?"

"Yes sir, just not very fast. And she won't hold under a beating. In fact, she'll blow if she becomes too critical. And trust me, she'll take a hell of a lot out with her."

"Fair enough. We don't know how many of them there really are, so I think it's wise if only one stays behind. Evac?"

"I'll be proud to, sir."

"Right then. Let's go Autobots. Those humans need us."

"Uhm… Optimus?"

The leader turned and looked questionly at Jetfire, who just nudged his head twice to the same side. Optimus looked where he had indicated to find the three children staring at him with their arms folded and serious faces on, although there was a touch of pleading in between the solemn lines.

"Absolutely not."

"Optimus we-"

"No. Forget it. I will not put you three in danger this time."

"You've said that every time before! Please, Optimus. We were able to help back then and we'll be even better now. We're not that young any more; give us a chance."

Optimus's resolve wavered. They had helped many times, and by now they were already so far into the war between the Decepticons and Autobots most things would not pull them out again. Certainly not making them stay. And he had a sneaking suspicion they would somehow end up in the middle again, even if he did say no.

"Will it make much of a difference if I refuse?"

"Not really, no."

"Nuh-uh."

"Nope."

Optimus turned to the three Mini-Cons.

"You three stick to them like glue. Stop them from doing something stupid and get them out of any potential trouble. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir, Optimus!"

"Alright. Then I suppose you three kids can come."

"Score!"

Coby hi-fived his brother and, grinning, the three made their way towards the ship with the other Autobots.

Unknown to them in the shadows sat a kaki coloured shape they called Blatscar. He smiled as the three children were allowed on the ship as well. He was safe, and he hadn't even had to do anything. His master would be pleased with him. Maybe he would even be able to get one of the Autobots all to himself… Maybe…

I'm done, you can breathe now. Well, that's the next chapter, hope it wasn't too ghastly. My apologies if my writing has caused any chronic illnesses. Next chapter hopefully coming next week. Oh good golly I'm going to have to come up with ideas for more stories after this is done…. Back to the drawing board.


	9. Chapter 9

**Serene Turned Sinister **

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Hello everybody and welcome back. Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter, they gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling of being appreciated. Chapter nine and the space chapter. Oh heaven help us all. Seeing as I have no patience for Geography, I don't know one star from the other, so I'll just call them stars. No extra detail there I'm afraid. So without further waffle, here you go.

Brace for impact!

To the three Earth children, their planet had always seemed big enough for them and, at times, too big. Now the vastness they had lived their lives out on lay below them, no bigger than a beach ball. It was eerie to sit at the window and watch something so big to them become so small it almost seemed insignificant. Even though they had been out in space before, this second time was when they had more insight of what could happen on that one small planet, so the reality of its smallness scared them. The Autobots seemed to pick up on this, as they did not let the three linger too long at the passing of their home planet. Lori was tasked to sit and keep communication going with Coby and Bud, who were down in the engine room, by the means of a talk radio Coby had made himself. So far, the ship was holding up quite nicely, but she was still quite badly damaged and kept Coby very busy.

Even with full knowledge of the potential danger, there was no denying the beauty around them. The stars winked at them almost in a flirty manner, and there was a silence that was so calming, they couldn't stay too worried for long. When Lori and Bud got a little bored they started a game of I-spy, which became more difficult for Lori as they continued into space as Bud knew many more stars then she did.

But as they continued, even space couldn't calm all their nerves. The ship they had been following always stayed just out of their reach, taunting their lack of speed and frustrating Optimus. The longer they played follow-the-leader, the more anxious the other Autobots became. They knew that the Decepticons wouldn't think twice about attacking them, so why were they leading them further into space?

Coby emerged from the engine room about half an hour into the flight to announce that there was nothing more he could do; the ship was as fixed as she could get at that moment.

"Optimus, do you think they're leading us into an ambush?"

Optimus was silent for a moment, then answered slowly, but with a note of surety in his voice.

"I doubt it, Jetfire. If they were they would have ambushed us already, closer to their target. No, I think they're trying to wear us out and then they plan to double back, attack us and head back to just outside Earth."

Everybody relaxed a bit at their leader's words, but Coby still wasn't completely satisfied. Something was gnawing at him, telling him that something wasn't right. He scanned the blackness outside the window, trying to decipher where they were. Traveling half an hour from Earth in nothingness meant they could be anywhere by now. He grew more frustrated as he just became more lost, and Lori came over to try and make the frown lines disappear from her friend's face.

"Hey," she said, lightly bumping his uninjured hip with hers.

His concentration broke, and he gave her a small smile.

"Hey," he replied softly.

His gaze returned to the surrounding space and, after watching him for just a moment, her gaze followed his.

"It's so beautiful out there. Do you remember the last time we were up here?"

She caught a shadow of a genuine smile on his face in the reflection of the glass, and his shoulders relaxed somewhat.

"How could I forget? We nearly didn't make it home that time. And we started into space without Bud."

"Yeah, but even then out there is just as it is now."

Coby finally looked at her, this time with most of the frustration gone.

"Oh? And how is it out there now?"

Lori smiled at the stars before turning her head to her companion and replying simply.

"Peaceful. Clam. Serene and silent, even though evil is all around it."

Coby hadn't though of it that way, and all of the worry left him. Optimus was probably right; there was no ambush. He was just being stupid. Nothing this tranquil could hold that much danger could it? No, Optimus was right, and they'd be ready for the Decepticons when they tried their plan. For now, they had nothing to do but follow and be prepared. Smiling now, he turned back to the outside blackness and rested his hand and forehead against the glass.

"At least tell me you know more star names than the last time?"

Lori made a face that was clear even in the murky reflection. Coby laughed and shook his head.

"Now I understand why you and Bud stopped playing I-spy; he got frustrated."

Lori sniffed and put a hand on her hip in mock anger.

"Well, it's his own fault for choosing to spy stars. If he had chosen something that appears in any shopping mall or clothing store, I would have whooped his ass."

"Yeah, but that's only because I have no desire to go anywhere near any of those places."

Bud had grown bored being alone and so had sought the company of his two best friends.

"Oh, but I have interest in stars that are not visible from Earth?" Lori replied smartly.

The two began to bicker and Coby, grinning, decided to stay out of it. He returned instead to the stars and wandered if any of them that he was seeing now even had a name.

000

"Are they still following us?"

"True as a shadow, sir."

He couldn't stop a content smile slipping over his previously expressionless face.

"Excellent. And the second troop of men?"

"All in your desired place, sir, awaiting your commands."

"And no one disobeyed and remained on Earth?"

His voice took on a deadly note, and his underling was quick to reply.

"No sir, not one. Even Blatscar joined us."

"Ah," the smiled widened cruelly. "Blatscar… Summon him, I have the need to speak to him."

Eager to leave his leader behind, the Decepticon obeyed and the head was left alone for a minute or two before the Decepticon he had called bowed his was into the room.

"So, Blatscar I presume the brats are also on that ship?"

Blatscar couldn't help but feel a little proud as he reported that they were. The feeling increased by the pleased smile on his leader's face.

"And the repairs? Have you found out how much that ship can take?"

He nearly burst with importance as he proudly gave the information he had overheard.

"So it is almost exactly as we have planned. All we need to do is tweak it a bit. Your friend, that Mini-Con, is he competent at destruction?"

More pride and self-importance, and now the feeling he was going to get a reward was almost a fragrance hanging before his face.

"Of course, master."

"You have done well since your previous disappointment, Blatscar."

The Decepticon bowed, half to keep favour and half to hide the smug smile now present on his face.

"I thank you, sire."

"You and your Mini-Con may chose an Autobot for yourselves."

Triumph filled him as his dream was fulfilled. But he now realized he had to chose carefully as not to upset his leader. He knew at once that Optimus Prime was out, but he doubted whether his leader would want much to do with the second in command…

"Sire, I beseech you to let me take Jetfire out of your hair."

"Granted. Now go and warn that idiot that is driving that we shall be reaching our destination soon."

Blatscar bowed again and left, allowing the satisfied smirk to widen as he got further wand further away from his master. The leader, too, was smiling but it was of promise of what was to come next.

"Ah Optimus, I wonder if you know me yet?" He chuckled coldly. "No, you can not or you would surely stop following me. I wonder how easily I will be able to kill you?" A pause as he thought, then another chuckle. "Not long. Not long at all."

000

"Update, Scattorshot."

"We're cruising at a steady speed of eighty miles an hour sir, still following the target who is currently in sight at…" he broke off and his eyes widened. "Optimus! They've stopped!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing at once and clamored to see out the front window. Scattorshot had spoken the truth; the enemy ship had indeed stopped. Everyone started speculating why their target had suddenly stopped and were still going so when the ship turned around so it was facing theirs.

"Battle mode, everyone, here comes their attack."

"Optimus, we have to get them to go hand to hand combat; the ship won't take battle."

"How in the name of Primus are they going to convince them to do that?" Lori wandered quietly.

"They won't have to," Coby answered, just as quietly. "The Decepticons want hand to hand too."

True to Coby's word, the Decepticons were all filing out of their ship, all obviously ready for battle. If the earlier count was accurate, not one remained onboard.

"Let's go, team!" Optimus said and all the Autobots followed his lead out of the ship, leaving the Mini-Cons and the children alone in the ship.

"How long do you think it'll take for them to kick butt?" Bud asked, grinning.

The only one who didn't join in on the baiting and betting was Coby, who continued to stare out of the window at the opposing side.

"Co? You're not seriously worried, are you?"

Coby didn't reply. In truth, he didn't know if he was worried or not. He certainly wasn't a hundred percent confident and the gnawing feeling had returned. But there was no point in worrying his little brother, who was already looking up at him with wide eyes. Coby knew by now that what he felt influenced what Bud felt, so he forced a smile that he knew was convincing enough and ruffled Bud's hair.

"Naw. They'll beat those Decepticons' buts all the way back to oblivion."

Bud grinned, Lori smiled and the Mini-Cons became happy again. Coby turned away from their play and bit his lip, more than just a little guilty for lying to them all. But there was no way he was right… was there?

"Woa… Each of them has at least two Decepticons to fight…" Bud's voice was worried as everyone else turned to what the little boy had suddenly seen. All except Coby, who had been watching that for a long time now.

"Yeah, but they'll still win, no contest."

Bud seemed calmer and smiled again, turning to Lori, obviously ready to begin the teasing where he had suddenly left off. He never got the chance, as three shapes suddenly hit the front window of their ship.

"What the…?"

The three forms turned out to be three Mini-Cons, all three Decepticons and all three obviously keen to get inside. Jolt, however, was having none of it.

"Come on, you two. Our job is to protect the kids. Let's make our team proud!"

Before the three humans could do anything, the three Mini-Cons had gone, and they saw them fly out to meet their three Decepticon equals. Inside the ship the worry levels had increased and it only got worse as the fighting started amongst the Transformers too. It was obvious that neither side was going to give in and that both sides weren't going to let their enemy get anywhere near their ship, which was were they ultimately wanted to be. Coby saw the problem.

"Come on, you two."

"Co, where are we going?"

"To the escape pod, then to the Decepticon ship. The Autobots are being kept far too busy to rescue the humans, so it's up to us."

Grinning adventurously, the other two followed their 'leader' to the escape pod, not thinking for a second about the danger and not caring in the least.

000

"Optimus Prime! Welcome to your burial ground."

Optimus tore his gaze away from his fighting companions and onto his own opponent. The Decepticon stood before him in full glory and Optimus was suddenly a little grateful that he only had to fight one; the leader would prove to be a challenging opponent to say the least.

"Who are you? Why did you drag us out here?"

Again, his only answer was a laugh.

"Oh Optimus, what does it matter? You are doomed, as are every one of your team members who so gallantly fight around you to no avail. But you cannot think of them; one slip of concentration and I will just kill you quicker. So shall we commence your last battle?"

"First tell me who you are!" Optimus shouted, losing his patience as the sounds of his struggling comrades filled the once quiet air. The Decepticon grinned in satisfaction and Optimus could have kicked himself for letting his enemy see how worried he really was.

"Alright, Optimus, I'll tell you who I am. I am your old enemy, the one you have fought tirelessly before."

Optimus was still confused, but this time showed no emotion.

"But that would mean you are either Starscream of Galvatron, and you are neither."

"True," smirked the Decepticon, evidently enjoying himself. "I am both."

"Wha…?" Optimus couldn't believe he'd heard right.

"You destroyed both Galvatron and Starscream, but some of their spark remained waiting for the same substance as it to join with it and create a whole new being. As I said before, the substance both sparks left was the desire to get revenge on you, and thus they joined."

Optimus just stood and stared, not wanting to believe, not wanting it to be true.

"Optimus Prime, I am Galvascream."

000

"Stop lagging! We need to get there as quickly as possible."

The hissed command seemed to echo a thousand times louder than a scream in the empty hallway, and the two who it was aimed at first cast a nervous look around before complying.

"Why do we have to go this fast?" Bud hissed back at his brother, panting slightly as he and Lori caught up.

"Because we have to get them out of here as quickly as possible. The longer we take, the more likely we're putting them and ourselves in danger thus the more times Optimus is going to kill us when he finds out."

"Oh right… Optimus doesn't know… Oops."

Lori sighed and shook her head in amusement, which caused her to collide with Coby, who had suddenly stopped. In the semi-darkness she could only just see his hand shoot out to grab her before she fell. After she was upright he looked again at the small tracker in his hands, its light being the only light for miles around them.

"Heat sensor says they're in the room ahead. There's no sign of a Transformer, but I think this thing's a bit faulty as it can't identify the people in here as humans, so be careful."

The three kept close to the walls as they inched closer to their destination. At the closed door Coby motioned for them to stop, handed the machine over to Bud and slipped inside before either of the other two could protest. They waited outside with bated breath, straining their ears to hear anything that happened inside. Coby's sudden reappearance made them both jump, and he grinned.

"No Decepticon in here. Come on, let's find the humans."

Inside the room was darker than inside the hallway and even the heat sensor's light made little difference. They needed to find a light switch, which Bud flipped without warning. The light was so intense after all the darkness that the other two couldn't help but yell in surprise and pain. Through their closed eyes they could only see little spots as they stood and wandered what the hell had happened.

"I found the light," Bud said sheepishly.

Coby and Lori groaned, trying to force their eyes open.

"Nice, genius. Next time, please take the care to warn us."

Bud grinned sheepishly and Coby, still blinking a few too many times, started towards the back of the room where a curtain was hanging. He took one side and peered behind it and then just froze.

"Coby? What's wrong? Are they… ok?"

Coby turned and his face was ash white. Without saying a word, he ripped back the curtain. Bud and Lori couldn't believe what they saw.

Dolls. Life-size, plastic dolls with little metal boxes on them that Coby explained after looking at one just for a few seconds.

"Heat transmitter."

The three stood, staring and a cold dread took over them.

"So… there were never any humans? It was all a spoof?"

"Co," Bud's voice was breaking with fear. "Co, what does this mean?"

Coby grimly took another look at the plastic people before him then turned to the other two.

"It means this is a trap, and we've just all walked straight into it."

So there you have it. Due to the extreme crappyness of this chapter I will be able to make this story 11 chapters long, and not 10 like I originally planned. That could be either very good or very bad, depending who you are. I think that's all for now, so I'll sign out with one last thing to say:

Happy Easter!


	10. Chapter 10

One's Triumph, Another's Demise

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

Hello it's me, who is, once again, very late with the update. I'm truly sorry, but I got dragged off to my Aunt's house and she doesn't even own a microwave, let alone a TV or computer. So I was stuck, unable to type anything at all. Here's the second last chapter of the fic, and I'm guessing it will be the longest too. An apology in advance for the horrific fighting scenes; I don't do well in that type of thing.

So with a last apology let me bring you the late and museless chapter.

Brae for impact!

A place usually tells one what it is like by its appearance and setting. For example, one doesn't feel threatened out in the park on a sunny day, with lots of flowers blooming around one's feet giving off fragrance and beauty. And in space, in total nothingness, with only the light of stars that seem so close, yet so far at them same time and that twinkle happily at you, you feel peaceful and safe.

But sometimes appearances lie. The flowers could be ejecting a poison deadly to you and their colours could be beacons, drawing you in to your demise. And space can suddenly show that it is really a place of sheer emptiness where one is small and insignificant; a bug that the sneering stars can squash with little trouble at all.

This sudden change in the way the place makes you feel is shocking and it leaves one confused and scared. Something that was, a minute ago, safe and comforting has just revealed that it was exactly the opposite. In fact, the feeling is so unique and irregular that no one can really explain it; it's just there and it doesn't go away.

The three Earth teens felt that way up there in space. Lori and Bud sat, side by side, on an upturned box while Coby paced in front of them. None of them spoke; they were too afraid they might jinx the momentary peace. Each one of them knew that trouble was coming; they could almost see it rushing towards them. They wanted out, very quickly. That wanted to go back to the state they had been in before; unaware and happy that they were safe with the Autobots.

"How… are they planning to get rid of us?"

Lori's voice broke through the silence and made Bud look up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at for a long while. Coby did not stop pacing, but it was him who answered.

"It must have something to do with our damaged ship or they wouldn't have made it possible for us to follow them only with it. I mean, the whole reason they drew us out to space focuses on that. But what I don't get is why they lead us all the way out here. They now have to go all the way back to Earth, which is going to take unnecessary time."

Coby sighed and shook his head. In the books they had made it seem so easy to play the detective. But when the moment comes to you the panic and worry makes you almost incapable of thinking.

"Think like a Decepticon. If you wanted to destroy an entire ship-load of Autobots who are quite a bit more battle worthy than you, why would you lure them off into space?" Bud said, trying to reason it out.

"Well, we already know that one reason is that our damaged ship can be used to their advantage. But then there is still the problem that the Autobots are better fighters than them. Maybe they thought that they'd call some new weapon from the Earth if they battled too close?" Lori mused.

"Or," Coby said, and he had stopped pacing to stare at his brother and best friend, his eyes widening. "Maybe it's the other way round. They know the Autobots are better than them in combat so they drew them out here…"

"For an ambush?" Bud yelped. "But Optimus said-"

"Optimus has been wrong before," Coby replied quietly.

"But… how can they make that possible?" Lori squeaked, trying to put some confidence into her argument.

Coby said nothing but he dug out one of his trusty gadgets and typed on it for a while. He suddenly stopped and the other two realized with sinking hearts that what he had found was not good news for them.

"Just behind the huge meteor in front of us is a space warp. It doesn't say where it starts, but I'll bet it's far away. And I'll also bet that on the other end-"

"Are more Decepticon troops," Bud whispered.

"Ready to come to the aid of their fellows when the signal is given," Lori finished grimly.

The serene blankness around them had just gotten darker and more sinister. They were in much more trouble then they had originally thought, and their comrades were wearing themselves out outside, unaware of the danger.

"Coby, what do we do?" Lori said, a quiver in her voice.

Coby thought for a moment, then slowly the confusion vanished from his face to be replaced by a look that in a cartoon would be accompanied by a light bulb above his head. He rushed out the room and Lori and Bud, who followed him quickly, found him staring outside the window to their own ship.

"Co? What are you doing?"

Coby turned back to them and their hearts leapt. On his face was a smile, and that single expression brought them hope and joy.

"Their ship is similar to ours, both in structure and, I'm hoping, system."

"So?" Bud asked curiously.

"So," Coby said patiently. "We'll go down to their engine room and leave them a little surprise of our own."

000

War cries echoed too plainly through the emptiness. The cries all pooled together as choruses of noise, so that you couldn't tell which cry belonged to who.

Optimus stood, the cries engulfing him, as he faced Galvascream. The Decepticon and Autobot had completely different body languages. While Optimus was concerned and worried and stood straight up, tense and alert, his opponent almost lounged, looking as if he was at a relaxing tea party. That unnerved Optimus even more, which seemed to please Galvascream endlessly.

"Oh what's the matter, Optimus Prime? Have you lost your nerve? Or maybe it's just that you finally realize your doom is inevitable."

His taunting seemed to wake Optimus Prime up from his trance.

"You seem very confident that you will defeat me, Galvascream. Haven't you learnt your lesson yet that I will not be beaten by the likes of you?"

"Oh Optimus, your words do hurt me so," mocked his adversary. "You are such a naive one, aren't you? You think that I care for something like my… creators… did. I do not. They wanted something; something that would give them power. And so you fought over an object. I am not so. I want nothing but to destroy you and every one of those miserable planets that gave me grief before. I have enough power to do that, believe me."

"And just how do you plan to get rid of me, Galvascream?"

The Decepticon just laughed, clearly enjoying his elevated status knowledge gave him.

"If I tell you, I'll spoil the surprise. Don't worry, Optimus Prime, you shall see soon enough."

With that and no warning, he flung himself at Optimus, his sword at the ready somehow. Optimus barley had time to defend himself slightly, and the blow hurt him more than he wanted to be wounded. He swung around, hoping to catch the Decepticon off guard but found nothing but air there. He realized with a shock that he had pulled the move he had tried to pull now on Starscream once. Galvascream was obviously too smart to fall for the same thing twice. This imposed a problem, as he now had to think up new strategies as he went.

"Oh Optimus, up here."

The second blow was as harsh as the first and this time Optimus was knocked backward. He was on his feet again very quickly, but he now knew the penalty of underestimating his opponent. This was going to be a hard fight.

000

Not too far away from where Optimus and Galvascream battled fiercely was a room that was almost noisier than the outside space. Coby had been expecting it, but Bud and Lori had to close their ears upon their arrival. The room wasn't a particular shape; it curved and straightened out in a jagged fashion. Even though it looked very unpractical, it seemed to work for the Decepticons as every machine fitted inside it like a jigsaw. The entire room was bathed in a light that can only be described as moss green in colour. Where it came from was a mystery, but one the three had no time to solve.

"Coby, what do you plan to do?" Bud said into his brother's ear, although it was unnecessary to be quiet in all the din.

"I've got no idea yet," Coby yelled back.

Lori sighed and rolled her eyes to the heavens. Men.

"Well, I suggest you think of something. And quickly."

"I will, I will. Just give me a minute."

Coby walked up and down the machines, looking at each one carefully. He was lost in his own world of thoughts, but the other two weren't and the noise was irritating them.

"How can you think in all of this noise?" Lori finally yelled.

"What?"

"HOW CAN YOU THINK IN ALL THIS NOISE?"

"Is it bothering you?"

"Just a tad," Lori's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Coby moved to the first machine and opened a square box on its side. He then pulled out a wire and the noise instantly stopped.

"Better?" He turned to Bud and Lori with a questioning look.

"Thanks… But what was it that you disconnected?"

"Their air-conditioning."

"Their _what_?!"

"Air-con."

"Wow… it makes a lot of noise for something that… simple." Bud said, looking at the wire that now hung free.

"Well then, you and it are exactly the same, Bud!"

"Shut up, Coby, and go and play with your machine bits."

Coby grinned, but didn't press it any further. He then went back to being serious as he tried to think of a way to get the Decepticons back.

"Co, I hate to be the one nagging but would you please figure this out so we can go back to our ship? You know, the one that can blow up at any minute?"

"Yeah, you're right we…" He suddenly stopped stock-still, a vague look on his face.

"Coby?"

"Our ship… blow up… take a lot with her…"

"Yes Coby, which is why we have to get back to it." Lori shot an alarmed look at Bud as she said this, but the younger boy was at as much of a loss as she was. Coby suddenly let out a whoop of laughter, causing both of them to jump.

"Lor, you're a genius!" He yelled happily.

"She is?"

"I am?"

"We'll do to them what they want to do to us."

They still stared blankly at him and so he sighed and explained it properly.

"We'll rig their engine so it thinks it's been under a lot of battle stress. It, just like our ship, will bow up if it's under too much stress. Our ship is in that danger because it isn't fully repaired, so you can say it's already been under battle stress. This ship hasn't, but I'm sure I can rig the engine to believing it has."

Bud and Lori looked less confused and more excited as Coby sat before a machine more or less in the middle of the mass. He took out his tools, which had been hanging from his belt, and opened three lids that were on the machine in front of him. Each lid revealed a lot of wires that meshed and tangled together, hiding even more parts and wires. The other two were at a loss, but Coby, as usual when near things like this, seemed quite at home.

"Hold on, Co. We can't rig this ship exactly like ours because then we won't have enough time to get away and we'll be taken out with them."

"Oh, I know. But I've realized that the plan is to use the space warp for two things: to get the troops in but also to get them all out before our ship's blast takes them all out. I'm rigging it so it will only blow after it's been flown three kilometers from this spot. Now the ship is on standby, so it will only be flown again when the Decepticons make their grand exit to the space warp. Three kilometers from here and they should be nearing the end of the warp, if they're not out already. As soon as they hit the distance mark-"

"Their ship, and them, goes bye-bye!" Bud hooted happily.

"Wait, you can do that? Rig this thing to blow at three kilometers, I mean."

"Sure. All you need to do is take the central-"

"Woa, woa woa!" Lori said, interrupting Coby and holding up her hands in a surrender pose. "Coby, at this very moment I know what's going on and I'm not confused. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

Coby grinned and heeded her by saying nothing more. He then got very busy with the wires and things before him. What he was doing made absolutely no sense to Bud and Lori, but Coby was concentrating hard and so they didn't dare to ask.

Fifteen minutes passed. The other two had taken up Coby's earlier stance by pacing around him as he worked. He had said nothing for those past fifteen minutes and his gaze had only wavered for a few seconds to find the right tool from his belt. Even though they trusted Coby, they were beginning to get very worried. Finally, after about another seven minutes Coby stood up.

"It's done," he said, a little pride in his otherwise expressionless voice.

"And it will work?" Lori questioned, looking at the same clump of wires Coby was.

"Almost certainly."

"Almost?!"

"Nothing is ever a hundred percent, you should know that. Anything could happen. All I do know for a fact is that it won't blow anywhere near us except if we follow them, which I don't think anyone intends on doing."

With one last look around the three left the room and entered the dark hall again. They then began their creeping back up to the hatch where they had left their transport means. In one of the halls they had to cross the outer wall was just glass, and it was passing past that window that Lori suddenly stopped.

"Lor? What's wrong?"

All she could see was the one side of Coby's face as he turned around to look at her. She turned back to the sight of their own ship, searching the air around it while she replied.

"I'm sure a mini-Con just entered our ship. And it wasn't one of ours."

Coby joined her and grimly stared at their ship.

"Then we have to get back, very quickly. Come on. Bud, come on! Bud?"

The younger boy was too paused at the window, but his gaze wasn't on the ship. It was on the battle that could vaguely be seen from their vantage point. He was silent as he watched the Decepticons attack his friends, and a feeling of utter helplessness overcame him as he saw them struggling but ultimately failing at the unfair conditions. Coby grabbed his shoulders and gently but firmly steered him away from the sight. As he walked past Lori, he grabbed her wrist gently too and so the two of them were lead out by Coby.

"We have to get back to our ship, or they really won't have a chance."

000

"Jetfire!" Optimus couldn't help the bellow that left his mouth as he saw his comrade being thrust aside by a sword that was the size of an average pen to a twenty-foot giant.

He himself was pushed against a mass of rock, Leobraker on one of his arms. Even in Savage Claw Mode he was being slowly but surely beaten by Galvascream. The thought frustrated him and, adding the fact that the rest of his team was matched two or three to one, he was running on a very short fuse at the moment. Galvascream seemed to find this even more amusing then a comedy movie, as he was now surveying the Autobot leader with a badly disguised laugh on his face. Leobraker growled at him menacingly and Optimus climbed to his feet.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Optimus. Welcome back to your doom. Want to give your pet a little longer to live? No? Alright then, I'll take him out before you."

"You're full of big words, Galvascream. I am not beaten yet, and I don't intend to be!"

"Oh Optimus, you have to learn that sometimes our plans don't work out, as in your case right now. If you don't believe me, just take a look around."

Optimus grudgingly did just that, and the worry and sadness in him increased as he saw the full extent of the battle. Why, even Jolt was fighting in the far corner. It wasn't right, and the gore made him despair somewhat. Sensing this, Leobraker spoke up.

"Come on, Optimus! Don't you dare give up on us now! We're all still fighting; you should be too."

A little unorthodox, but it worked. Optimus tore his gaze away from his team and put it back on Galvascream.

"I will not be brought down, Galvascream."

The Decepticon, however, did not seem to be listening. He was still surveying the battle, but I was with a look of puzzlement that shocked Optimus and Leobraker.

"Hmmm," Galvascream murmured, and it was more to himself than his foes. "Something isn't quite right… Why does it seem… empty?"

His gaze swept over the battle again, this time seemingly counting his troops. Suddenly realization hit him.

"Ah! Now I see what it is! I haven't allowed my other troops to enter yet."

Cold dread and disbelief consumed Optimus as the form in front of him blew on a whistle type object.

"…Other… troops?"

"Oh yes, Optimus. From the space warp just beyond that hunk of rock. Ah, here they come now."

They reminded Optimus sickeningly of a swarm of locusts as they came. And now each Autobot was faced with at least four Decepticons, each who wanted nothing more than to end their foe's life. Optimus could do nothing but stare in shock and grief as the battle intensified and his team was forced further into submission. Even Leobraker had nothing to say. Galvatron watched them, a small smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Optimus. I will give you a chance to say goodbye to them. Every one."

The words slipped through the numbness and tapped Optimus' consciousness.

"And you'll have the pleasure of watching us see, and probably taste, our first bloodshed. Yes, that is something I admit to be looking forward to; I have never seen a human bleed before. They say if you cut that simple tissue they call flesh in the right place the liquid flows like water in a river… Is it true?"

The numbness was disappearing and in its place came an anger Optimus didn't know he had.

"Of course, you will only witness the first three humans we gut. By the time we get back to Earth you will be dead along with your humans and your team."

Optimus snapped. He had never, ever hated someone as much as he did now. With a roar of fury and renowned strength he flung himself at a very surprised Galvascream.

"You have made a very grave mistake endangering them Galvascream! Now I will make you pay!"

000

"Look at all of them." Lori's whisper was tearful as she pressed her face to the glass of their ship.

The three had just boarded it again, and now they were faced with the sight of a swarm of Decepticons swooping in hungrily on their team. Bud joined her silently, but Coby stayed where he was, securing the escape pod down and refusing to look. After only a short while Bud left Lori and joined his brother, also refusing to look. Coby stopped what he was doing and looked at his brother, then at Lori. Sighing he stood and, taking Bud's hand, pulled him up too. He then went to Lori and just as he had done on the Decepticon ship, took her as well and lead them both away from the sight. This time, however, his hands were gripped to each of theirs and his pace was a little slower. Both of them clung to him as they walked through their ship, both too sad and fearful to care how babyish they looked. Coby was a symbol of protection to them right now, and they would do anything to hold onto that. Suddenly Coby stopped and pulled them to a halt too.

"Coby wh-?"

Coby pulled his hand out of Bud's and placed it over his brother's mouth. Bud obediently fell silent and Lori didn't speak either, though her grip intensified on Coby's other hand. They stood in utter silence listening, trying to hear the sound that had upset Coby. It turned out to be one of the Decepticon Mini-Cons, and it had seen them before they saw it. Was a shriek it bore down on them, its small sword drawn.

"Move!" Coby bellowed, dragging both Lori and Bud out of its reach.

The Mini-Con missed them but they all turned as best they could on the floor to see if it was going to try and attack again. It stopped and turned around, its eyes never wavering from them. He then snarled, transformed into an object they couldn't quite see but that resembled a forklift, and raced out. Coby leapt up and ran to the door, staring out and watching the Mini-Con's retreat.

"Is it gone?" Lori whispered, not knowing why she was still lowering her voice.

Coby nodded and turned around again.

"Yes, but I don't think it broke in just to have a look around. Come on, we have to check the engines."

Now they walked independently and much quicker than before, Coby slightly in the lead. They finally reached the engine room and, stealing himself slightly, Coby pushed open the door. Nothing seemed to be wrong except the lighting. Instead of the usual conventional yellowish light, the entire place was filled with a flashing red. Coby saw this and let out a few very choice profanities, which surprised Lori and Bud immensely.

"I'm guessing its bad?"

"Oh yeah. That Decepticon did real damage. The red lights are part of our warning system; it disconnected the noise part of it."

Bud's eyes widened. He knew from past conversations that when this ship finally displayed the warning signal it was very, very bad. Coby rushed over to the main server and opened the box. The look on his face told them that more curses might not be too far behind.

"What did they do?" Lori cried, hating how shaky her voice was.

"Almost the same we did to their ship. Except he didn't have to rig it, he just had to damage some of these systems; our ship is damaged enough."

"And I'm guessing he didn't put the 'after three kilometers' bit in, did he?"

"Nope. She's going to blow right here, and she's going to blow soon."

Now it was Lori's turn to swear, causing both boys to look at her. She shrugged defensively.

"Our lead photographer at the modeling industry has an extensive vocabulary."

Coby's eyebrows raised, but he said nothing. For a second time in fifteen minutes he took out his tools, and this time a sort of desperation hung about them. The first time had been in aid of their salvation as well, but this time it was so much closer. The older boy began to work feverishly, his brow furrowed as he tried to undo the damage that had been done. They could tell from his face it wasn't going to be easy.

"I need those extra parts I brought. They're in the store."

Both boy and girl nodded and set off together. They almost flew to the store and found the box easily. They grabbed it and were about to return to Coby when something tapped on the window behind them. Whirling around they found it to be Jolt, who was a little worse for ware but alive.

"Jolt!" Lori cried joyously.

"Don't worry, we're doing better out here now. You kids alright?"

"We're fine. But Jolt, listen. Galvascream and his cronies have another Ace up their sleeves."

"Yeah, their real plan was to break into the ship and make it explode, taking us all out for good."

"They planned to use the space warp as their escape rout. Coby's rigged their ship, so it will blow up instead."

"But one of their Decepticon Mini-Cons broke in here to set the timer for our ship's, and also our, demise. Coby's fixing it though."

"So as soon as Galvascream and the rest of them disappear to make their getaway make sure everyone gets inside this ship, ok?"

Jolt nodded, seemingly wanting to speak. A cry broke his concentration.

"I have to go," he called through the glass, as loudly as the two children had been speaking. "Take care!"

"You too Jolt!" both of them yelled in response at his retreating form.

They then hurried out of the room and back to the engine room, now worried for their battling comrades as well as the ship. But they say that once something starts to go wrong, a whole chain of bad events follow until they are so horrible you just curl up and go to sleep, hoping to dream them away.

Unfortunately, this was the case then. Bud and Lori had faithfully delivered the parts to a muffled thanks from Coby and had watched him for only two minutes before another sound broke the semi-silence. The sound of Coby's watch's alarm. The teenager pulled his head out of the machine and looked at it in utter alarm, his eyes oddly blank.

"No biggy," Bud said quickly. "You can take three or four minutes off. It surely won't make that much difference."

The look on Coby's face didn't disappear and Lori felt her blood ice over. A horrible thought had just entered her mind. A thought she refused with all her might to be true. She parted her shaking lips and asked the question anyway, screaming in her head for it not to be true.

"You didn't bring the medicine, did you?"

The answer drove daggers into her heart and made Bud pale instantly.

"No. No I didn't."

Bud began to shake his head, refusing to believe it.

"No, no you must have. Co, you must have."

Coby said nothing, then slowly raised his hand and switched off the alarm. He then carried on working. Bud was shaking, and Lori could see that he was really scared for one of the few times in his life. Coby had always been the one who scared easily and Bud had always been the fearless one. But how could she judge him when she felt more afraid than she had in a very long time? She moved forwards and pulled Bud close to her. He resisted for only a moment then clung onto her.

Bud held onto his friend and both watched the boy before them. He was suddenly reminded of the day Coby had called them to tell them he was going to fix a place that had presumably been destroyed by a Transformer. The two had waited with bated breath, side by side, expecting some excitement but never, ever expecting what happened next. He shuddered just remembering, and Lori squeezed him comfortingly.

That was how it went on for what could have been eternity. Coby worked while Bud and Lori stood waiting for the inevitable to happen. A part of each of them was rebelling against the knowledge that it was very bad. Nobody had ever been allowed to go that long without treatment, so how did they know what would happen? And it wasn't as if it was common. Sure, Coby proved that the first bit of the diagnosis was right, but what if it stopped at a certain point? They both clung to those thoughts like a talisman. It was all in vain.

Ten minutes passed before Coby couldn't hold up the pretence any longer. It was a sudden thing; one minute he stood working the next a suppressed moan left his lips and he doubled over. Even though he tried to hide it from them, it was clear he was in a great deal of pain. And only now did they notice how much he was shaking and exactly how much he had paled. They both shot forward, wanting to help but stopped in front of him, not knowing how.

"Coby?" Lori's voice was desperate and begging for him to tell her how to help.

But he mutely shook his head and straightened up a bit, continuing with the repairs. Lori and Bud stepped back a bit, but continued to watch him. Coby tried, but as the minutes passed he worked slower and slower and he began to shake more. His breathing became labored and Bud, squinting at his brother's forehead, saw beads of sweat sitting there like dew on the only blade of grass in a concrete slab. Bud bit hard on his lip, knowing full well that they couldn't make his brother stop. He was their only hope and so he had to carry on working and fixing their ship. After eighteen minutes even Coby's will couldn't stop his legs from giving out in pain.

"Coby!" Lori heard the tears in Bud's voice as he bent beside his brother.

Coby gently stroked a hair out of his brother's eyes, trying to tell him it would be alright. How can it be alright? Lori thought, feeling her own eyes well up with tears. Look at him! It's hardly been twenty minutes and already he can't hold on.

"Coby you can't any more. It's just not possible."

"I… have… to. The ship…"

Lori crouched so her face and his were level.

"Tell us what to do. It's halfway done, isn't it? We can do the other half if you tell us how."

"More than halfway. But… the rest is… crucial."

The last word was pushed out with obvious pain.

"Ok. Stay down there and tell us what to do."

Lori's voice was of forced calm, but it seemed to be calming Bud down a bit too. Coby handed her his screwdriver and she tried not to linger on how much his hands were shaking. Bud too, stood up and both of them moved over to the spot he had vaccinated.

"Alright… There should be… a red wire on the… left of Bud's… right ear."

"Found it."

"Cut that… as close to the… top as you possibly can."

Lori obediently obeyed, forcing her mind off of Coby and onto the task in front of her.

"Now… wire it into the… the…"

Coby shut his eyes tight, his forearm pressed over his stomach and he tried to fight the pain. Bud whimpered slightly and Lori felt a sob close to her throat. She pushed it down resiliently; she couldn't fall apart now.

"Into the washed out pink one… that runs along the… top rim."

She obeyed, her hands shaking a bit too. Bud suddenly took the two wires from her and he held them in place while she wired. She thanked her lucky stars she had paid attention to the small lessons Coby had given her. Her hands trembled as she worked. Everything seemed to be falling apart. The Autobots were being beaten outside, the ship was close to destruction and their mechanic was sitting on the floor in pain that Lori never, ever wanted to experience. And then there was the looming knowledge that now he only had thirty five minutes left before it was too late for him… She shut her eyes for a moment and vehemently prayed they would make it back in time.

"Ok… now this is… important. You can muck up… all the rest, just...not this. There's a black wire… sort of in the middle… you have to cut… on the first… green line you see… on it."

Lori quickly looked the wire up and down, finding the jade-green line Coby had talked about. Her gaze shifted quickly to the warning system which had calmed down a great deal but that was still flashing none the less. She had a feeling it was this action that would change it all.

"And now? Coby? Coby!"

There is only so much a human can take, even if that human is fighting with everything he has. Coby had, despite all his efforts to stay as conscious as possible, began to slip into nothingness. He was in a fog that kept drawing him down and his tired brain was forever nagging him to let it take him away; the pain would stop there. And even as he fought he felt himself slowly giving in. It was just like Lori had said: calm and serene even though it was darkness…

"Coby what must I do?" Lori cried, desperation making her start to panic.

Coby couldn't go; they needed him for cripes sake! They needed him! Bud knelt beside his brother and the tears started to pool up. He had managed to fight them back but now, just like his brother, he was losing his battle.

"Coby please! Please stay with me! You need to tell me what to do!"

Coby blinked. Then he blinked again, harder this time. Drawing the last strength he had he pushed away the fog and his eyes, which had been bleary and almost closed a second ago, opened. Bud wished they had just stayed closed. His brother's eyes had never been able to lie to him; he knew them too well. And now all the helplessness, pain and fear Bud saw in them suffocated him. Coby had been the strong one through it all. And now, he wasn't strong anymore. The entire world was collapsing on him again, and he couldn't bear it. Coby's hand twitched and curled over his, squeezing it ever so lightly. To anyone else it would have been a feeble attempt at comfort but to Bud it was his brother's way of saying: 'Give up and I'll kill you when we get home'. Bud fought again, as did his brother.

"Split… the bottom… bit and… feed… yellow wire on left… into it. Top half… connected… to… third red…wire on… left."

In the time it took Coby to force all of that out, Lori's hands had stopped shaking just a bit and she had been able to calm down. Bud was a boy, yes, but he was still young and he couldn't be expected to take all of this on him. It was up to her. It was ironic really; she had always dreamed of the moment she saved people and so showed everybody she was more than just a pretty face. Only in her dreams Coby and Bud weren't this hurt.

A movement caught her eye and she lost concentration for a moment to see what was going on. Bud, looking like he was doing something against his better judgment and indeed against all his common sense, was pulling Coby to his feet, his brother's arm around his shoulders. Coby had the look on his face that told Lori it was his idea and that he had fought with Bud, silently, until his younger brother had given in. Even though Lori was not far at all from where Coby had been, it was a huge job getting him over to her. She had never, ever seen legs that shook as much as his did then. She sobbed suddenly, unable to take in his weak appearance and, despite it all, his sheer stubbornness to remain on his feet. Bud squeezed her shoulder quickly, then went back to supporting his brother with both his arms. Lori turned back and thought back quickly to what Coby had told her to do.

As she followed the orders she thought she heard something boarding the ship. She bit her lip and hoped it was the Autobots. Throwing caution to the wind she called out in sheer desperation.

"Guys! Down here! We're down here!"

She hoped to Primus she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.

000

Things looked grim up there, that was for sure. The extra Decepticons had taken them all by surprise, and it wasn't one of those good surprises either. They had been having a tough time before, now it seemed they were just being stubborn against the force that would as surely as the sunrise beat them. None of them could ever remember feeling this beaten before and it was a horrible feeling. In every other battle they had all known they stood a good fighting chance. Now…

Jetfire was one of the lucky ones; all he had to deal with was Blatscar, as it had been promised to the Decepticon. He felt so helpless as he stared around him at his comrades, not knowing what to do to help them and indeed who to start helping first if he found the means. Blatscar was like a shark who had smelt blood; he was a drivin maniac, thrusting himself on Jetfire even as the Autobot managed to push him off time and time again. After some time he didn't even look at his friends; their faces were haunting. He wondered vaguely if he had the same look on his face.

Then came the cry that stopped the battle in its tracks. Every Transformer, both Decepticon and Autobot turned to where the sound had emitted from. No one had ever dreamt of hearing Optimus that angry. It knocked some of the confidence out of the oppressing Decepticons, but the ringing sound installed a bit of hope back into the Autobots. Battered as they were, they could still fight, and they would. Until the very bitter end.

"Let's go Autobots!" Hot Shot roared from somewhere to Jetfire's right.

For some unknown reason, Jetfire felt himself yelling along with the rest. Then, he never did find out what possessed him to do it, he flung himself on his advisory, seeing his teammates do the same out of the corner of his eye.

And so the battle raged on, this time with the Autobots hitting back. They still weren't winning flat out, but something had definitely changed. And so after that cry had sounded the Autobots slowly pushed their way forward, refusing now to be beaten and with their sparks glowing with courage. Naturally, the Decepticons could not let this happen. At first they put it down to pure luck but after a while even Galvascream's smile slipped down a few notches. Enough was enough.

"Optimus Prime, you fought back well. But it was still all in vain."

Optimus, still in Savage Claw Mode, looked up at the Decepticon and wondered how he could say such a thing. Optimus had finally done damage to his foe and as a result he hadn't gotten thrashed badly in the second half of their battle. But now Galvascream stood, a bit battered but smiling nonetheless down at a panting Optimus. When he spoke again, his voice was loud and addressing his entire crew.

"The third stage of our plan is now going into motion."

As soon as they heard this, every Decepticon backed off, leaving their Autobot foes extremely surprised. Their surprise turned to astonishment and disbelief as all the Decepticons fled back to their ship. Only Galvascream remained, and by his stance it would not be for long.

"I would stop the smiles your team has on their faces, Optimus Prime, for we have done everything but surrender. You see, while you were busy with us one of our Mini-Con friends sneaked into your ship's engine room. Yes, I know about its handicap and I used that to my advantage. My Mini-Con has made it so your dear ship thought it was taking battle damage. It will explode shortly, taking all of you with it, no matter how hard you try and get away. We, however, will be safe on the other side of the space warp. It's been fun, Optimus Prime, but today is your downfall!"

He then left as well, leaving the Autobots stunned and starting to panic. At that moment they saw it just as the Decepticons did; they were going to be blown to smithereens no matter what they did.

"Optimus, what do we do?"

Every eye turned to him as he stood, staring after the Decepticon ship, which was being fired up.

"I… We have to try and get away. I know they said it was fruitless, but we must at least try. Those who can do this by themselves, help those who cannot. We'll head Sou-"

"No Optimus wait!"

They all turned to see who it was that had interrupted. It was Jolt, also bearing signs of battle but with an urgent look on his face.

"Jolt? What is it?"

"We have to get inside the ship!"

"Uhm Jolt," came Hot Shot's voice. "The ship is going to blow up. You know, Kaboom?"

"No it isn't!" The Mini-Con insisted vehemently, taking them all by surprise.

"Jolt," Optimus began gently, but he was again interrupted by the small Transformer.

"No Optimus Prime, sir it isn't going to! Lori and Bud told me so. They said that Coby's working on repairing the ship and that we have to get inside of it very quickly because Coby rigged the Decepticon ship to explode, almost like what they did to us."

"He did _what?!_" Jetfire exploded.

"Not now, Jetfire." Optimus commanded, making Jetfire fall silent. "Alright everyone, you heard him. Into the ship, now!"

They all filed as quickly as possible into the ship, making more noise than they would have if they hadn't all been so wounded. They were a bit apprehensive as they stood there, some supported by others, but they all had faith in what Coby could do. So until Landmine spotted the clock and asked the one question no one had thought of, none of them were really panicked.

"O…Optimus." It was clear Landmine was forcing himself to be calm.

"Landmine? What is it?"

"What time did we leave Earth?"

"About three. Why?"

"Because then we've been up here two-and-a-half hours."

"Yes that-" Optimus broke off as he and everyone else there realized what Landmine was saying.

"Coby!" Hot Shot's voice was drenched in worry for one of the first times in his life.

Then they heard a call that confirmed all their fears. No one would sound that desperate if something wasn't wrong, especially not Lori.

"Guys! Down here! We're down here!"

Her voice was muffled, but they knew where it came from. They all rushed as quickly as they could to the engine room, dreading and hoping all at once. They pushed open the door and their eyes caught a sight they had never wanted to see.

The warning system was still flashing, causing everything to have a red tint to it. Lori stood at the main machine, her hands buried into the mass of wires. Bud was standing just behind her, his face grimmer than they had ever seen, holding up Coby. And Coby…

The teen was paler than they had ever thought possible and he was shaking like a leaf in heavy wind. The only thing that was keeping him in the sort-of upright position he was in now was his brother. They saw that he had been instructing Lori by the way he forced himself to keep his eyes open and on her work. All three turned their heads to the door as it opened and Lori couldn't help but give a relieved cry when she saw who it was. Because her concentration was off the wires before her, one slipped out of its place. Coby lurched forwards, caught it and stuck it back in. Then, his presence not needed anymore, he finally let his body do what it had wanted to for ages: pass out.

There was a pause and then the place erupted with activity. Landmine picked up Coby, Lori and Bud and took them out of the engine room and into the control room. Red Alert rushed to the now vacant machines and finished the repairs, inwardly marveling at Coby's ability. Optimus, very much aware that they had only half an hour to get back, ordered that every bit of spare energy go to the thrusters so they could get out of there quickly.

"We have half an hour to do an hour's journey. Anything and everything you think will help, do it!"

Even as he spoke Scattorshot was turning the ship around. Every Autobot, badly hurt or not, was scuttling around finding new ways to make the ship go faster.

"Red Alert, will she hold at a fast speed?"

"Thanks to Coby, she probably will, sir."

He nodded and then returned to the control room, inwardly praying to Primus that somehow, _somehow _they would get back in time. Entering the room he stopped and looked at where Coby lay, now with his head on Lori's lap. Bud sat behind the two of them, his head in the crook of Landmine's arm. Both humans were now crying, not caring anymore what anybody thought.

"Come on, Co. You can do this," Lori whispered, stroking his hair, her teas falling all over his face.

Coby moved, his eyelids fluttering slightly. Lori let out a shuddering breath as she watched him.

"Come on, Co. You have to get through this." When there was no reply from the semi-conscious boy in her lap, she broke down. "Damn it Coby! You can't do this to me, do you hear? You can't! It's my turn to get what I want, do you hear me? It's my turn. I want to live in Colorado again, in the same house as I used to. I want to go to the same school and forget about the fricking modeling crap. I want everything to be as it was before all this stared. Everything!"

She then started to cry heavily and put her head down on Coby's, not noticing as he slipped back into unconsciousness. Optimus watched her and Bud, who was also crying his eyes out and holding onto Landmine as a child would to a blanket. He swallowed and turned around to see everybody else watching them too. Then:

"Optimus! I think I've found a way to go faster!" This came from Hot Shot, not surprisingly.

"And how do you plan to do that, Hot Shot?"

"A star is dying quite far from here, but the waves it's emitting reach very, very far. If we can find one, we can ride it. The waves are very strong, so it should work."

"You heard him, Scattorshot, find us a wave!" And hurry, he added silently to himself, looking again at Coby.

There we go. The very late chapter is the longest so far as well as the second last. It will also be the last cliff-hanger, so I suppose you can be happy for that. Once again, my apologies for the lateness. Last chapter coming ASAP, which won't be as long as it took for this one, I promise. Until next time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Life Holds On**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers

**Note:** This is based on the Cybertron series and NOT on the Japanese Galaxy Force.

It's me again for the last time on this story. I'll probably not be able to stop myself from writing something else, but it will take a while as I'm busy writing a friend's birthday present. If anybody cares at all for whatever reason, I'll update my profile and keep you updated. Without further ado

Brace for impact

Who knew?

Who knew that they would be out in space for longer than two hours?

Who knew that Coby would still be able to fix their ship?

Who knew that Hot Shot's idea would work so well?

Who knew that the ship would hold even under the immense stress the waves put on it?

Who knew that they would make it back to Earth before the third hour had passed?

Who knew Jetfire would ever fly that fast, even to a place that was full of sick people, like the hospital was?

Who knew the sun could feel so cold, the likely victory so empty, the smiles so uncomforting?

Who knew that all the Autobots could fit into the parking lot right outside the ICU waiting room where Lori and Bud sat?

Who knew the two humans would cling to each other so tightly, they made marks on each other's skin?

Who knew the great leader Optimus Prime could ever feel that hopeless?

All he could do was stand, watch and wait like everyone else. Why couldn't he do any more? He wanted to stop Bud and Lori's tears, but he didn't know what to say to them. He wanted his team to get themselves fixed up, but he knew none of them would leave until they heard news about Coby, even though they, like him, could do nothing but watch and wait. And supposing even their star-riding burst hadn't been enough to get them back in time? Supposing Coby… He wouldn't say the word. He wouldn't.

His gaze swept over the Autobot team around him. Some were standing, others being supported and still others sitting. All of them were silent; even Hot Shot. No one knew what to say. He could almost feel their helplessness and pleading around him like a blanket. He turned once again to the two humans. Bud had stopped crying now, his eyes red and his cheeks stained. He had no tears left to cry, so instead he just held a still sobbing Lori. He wondered what would happen to Bud's family if Coby did…

//

Ten minutes. Ten minutes had passed since Jetfire had speeded him, Lori and his brother to the hospital. Ten minutes after the doctors had taken Coby away, telling Lori and Bud to wait. Almost eight minutes since the rest of the Autobots had arrived. No one had spoken. He was out of tears, though his shirt was soaked with Lori's. He didn't blame her for crying; hell, he still wanted to bawl. He just had no tears left to cry. His eyes were locked on the door Coby had disappeared behind. Exactly the same door he had been taken behind the day it had all started. In fact, him and Lori were sitting in exactly the same seats. He tried not to think about the last time he was here.

Fifteen minutes. Lori was quieting down in his arms, her body still shaking with the sobs. He knew she was thinking about it too; the last time they were there. It had felt like the end of the world not knowing if his brother would live or die. And now the same feeling was there, more imposing than the last time. This time, he feared they were too late. This time, he had watched his brother start to die for about forty five minutes before he was taken away. This time, he wouldn't be able to handle it if it was bad news.

Twenty minutes. Voices he knew were coming up the hallway, slightly hysterical. Three voices he hadn't heard together for so long… Not since the last time. Then he felt Lori stiffen beneath him as two more joined the fray. He knew those two voices too. He didn't turn his eyes away from the door as Lori's parents, Tim, his mother and his father rounded the corner. The hospital staff had called them, probably. He didn't care. He didn't even turn around when his mother started demanding hysterically why Coby was back in the hospital. He shut out the questions and the demands even as he heard Optimus take a step forward and offer to explain everything.

Twenty five minutes. His mother had began screaming again after five minutes of silence. She was obviously not taking it well that Coby had been seeing the Autobots behind her back. She seemed to like it less that he had been in space when the Autobots had had another huge fight, on a ship that could have exploded any minute. Then Lori's father interjected, yelling that it wasn't legal to kidnap his daughter away from him. From the gist of what he was saying Bud learned that he and his wife had come to visit Lori after feeling guilty for not contacting her for days. They had, of course, not found her where she had said she was. They had gone over to the Hansen house, putting a stop to the fight that was about to happen there between Tim and Mr Hansen and had explained their dilemma just before the phone rang to tell them all Coby was in the ICU. Again. Bud dimly heard Optimus trying to calm them.

Thirty minutes. Lori's mother had tried to take her away from where she sat but both of them had refused, clinging even tighter to each other. His mother had then tried to make him let go and hug away her tears instead, but again he had refused, still staring at the wretched door.

Forty minutes. His mother had finally given up and was now standing next to Tim and Lori's parents, crying. His father had been silent since they had learned what had happened and he guessed he was in a corner, trying not to be too visible. Primus knew how long he would get his wish to last.

Fifty minutes. The peace had finally been broken. Tim had snapped and flown at his father. The two had tussled for a while, Lori's father trying to break them up while the two women screamed. In the end it was Optimus, who had been silent and probably feeling very subdued since Mrs Hansen had started screaming at him, who broke the two apart. Luckily they were in a hospital so the tree men could get fixed up quickly and easily.

An hour. His hope had started to slip even more in the icy yet worried silence that separated the other two men in his family. Lori had completely stopped crying now, but they still clung to each other, trying to draw some condolence and hope from the other. It wasn't working and he was falling into despair.

An hour and fifteen minutes. His father had suddenly started crying. It was the weirdest thing to hear; the grown man in your life bawling and begging for forgiveness. His mother had taken him up in her arms, crying too. It would be a bit patchy for a while, but his parents were back together again. He felt no joy.

An hour and a half. Tim had now also forgiven his father, who was now downing coffee to get sober as quickly as possible. Remembering what Coby had told him, he felt sure his father wouldn't drink heavily for a long, long time to come, if ever again. It struck him that all the troubles had started the last time Coby was dying, and they had ended now that he was once again in the same condition. Once again he felt no joy, just worry and heartache.

Two hours. They had been sitting there for two hours. He hadn't uttered a word, neither had Lori. They had let go of each other a bit now. Hope was fading fast and depression was overtaking them both. Now he wanted to crawl away and die. Maybe then he and Coby would be able to be together anyway. He forced himself not to move. He continued to sit and watch the door.

Two and a half hours. The door finally opened and out stepped a nurse. Bud and Lori were both on their feet instantly. The grownups looked up, the Autobots all sat up but no one spoke. No one asked. No one really wanted to know. Then the words came out of the nurse's mouth. Words that made Lori and his mother burst into tears again. Words that made Lori's knees collapse from under her, forcing him to catch her. Words that made his insides disappear.

000

It was three days after Coby had been taken to the hospital. Bud was staring out of a window, not really seeing but deep in thought. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Tim and his father were out together, trying to patch things up. He had a suspicion it would go very well, as things had already gotten so much better in the last few days; they had embraced the day before. It might take a bit more time, but things would be what they once were. For that, he was grateful. And then there was the relationship between his mother and father. The smile progressed further as he remembered the romantic evening the night before and the constant smiles they gave each other. His family was becoming whole again, slowly but surely. And Lori was having luck too; she had gotten her family to seriously consider moving back to Colorado and letting her have a normal life again, forgetting about the modeling. And all the Autobots were almost entirely fixed now, none of them suffering any lasting injuries. Taking note of all the good things around him, Bud knew Coby would have been truly happy.

Coby. The one who was the victim and the trigger of all the bad things that had happened to them before the Autobots came back and also the one who healed it again, after keeping it together throughout the time it all wanted to break. Bud sighed, some sadness puncturing his happy balloon. There was nothing he could do, he told himself again. Nothing. He just had to take it like it was given to him. It had been hard to accept it the first day, but after that the idea started to take root in his mind. He supposed everything could have been so much worse.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid your time is up."

The young girl who put her head around the door eyed him quite sadly. She didn't understand why the teen chose to spend all the time he was allowed to here. She thought it was healthier to do what his parents, brother and friend did. He would know at the same time they did when it happened. Bud ignored the look, nodded and stood up. He cast a look at the bed to his left, the smile now truly breaking on his face. Silently promising that he would be back as soon as visiting hours started again, he bade Coby farewell and left his sleeping brother behind and followed the nurse out of the ICU room.

000

"Two of spades?" Jetfire asked a little tiredly.

"Go fish," Hot Shot replied with a grin.

He had never beaten Jetfire in anything in his life before, and it felt really, really good, even if it was just a card game. He could get used to the victory feeling, he had realized after the first three games. They were now on their tenth game, and he had won every single one of them easily.

"You're joking! You must have the two of spades!"

"I don't. Go fish." Hot Shot was smirking now, not bothering to hide his glee.

The Autobots who were still watching sniggered, causing those who were not to look again, making Jetfire flustered as he reached for a card. The look on his face was very comical and informed everyone that he had not drawn the two of spades.

"Three of hearts?" Hot Shot said.

Jetfire cursed quietly, causing a chorus of oohs from those who had heard him. And he thought he saw Optimus giving him a raised eyebrow look. He didn't look around to see but handed the card to Hot Shot. The younger Autobot hollered in glee and threw down every single one of his cards.

"I win!" He sang happily.

Amidst the laughter Jetfire tried to splutter an excuse, but he found none and had to be content with scowling deeply.

"Want to try again, Jetty?" Hot Shot smirked assertively.

Jetfire was stopped from answering as the doors to the base flung open. All turned around to find Lori running in, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. A shiver of hope ran through them: She must be there to tell them good news, hopefully that she was staying. But before anybody could ask, another figure entered after her, with the same look on his face. They all blinked in surprise: they hadn't seen half a sight of Bud since a week ago when Coby had been taken to the hospital. He spent as much time there as possible, and what time he couldn't he spent with his healing family. They didn't have to ask the good news, both blurted it out at once.

"Coby's awake!"

A roar echoed through the base as every Autobot told the rest just how happy they were with this news by cheering, throwing cards in the air, jumping up and down, running around, slugging others round the head or generally being crazy. Even Optimus wasn't half as reserved as he usually was, even though no one noticed.

"How's he doing?" Landmine called through the din and everyone quieted to hear the answer.

It came a bit later as both Lori and him were being hugged; Bud by Jolt and Lori by her 'big sister'.

"Well, as soon as he woke up he asked the cliché question 'Where am I?' and I'll admit he didn't sound too good. But after I'd told him and Lori had notified everybody else and we'd both hugged him, he grinned and asked if the ship had held and fired off a whole lot of questions about the wiring."

Everybody laughed, relived and happy beyond measure that he was apparently alright.

"Do you know when he's being released?"

"They want to keep him there for a couple more days, just to be extra sure but probably day after tomorrow, if he gets his way," Lori answered.

They could all imagine how quickly Coby wanted to get out of the hospital, especially if Lori and Bud being kicked out so his parents could be alone with him was any indication of how he was being treated. Hurt as he may be, he really couldn't stick being treated like a child. It was Optimus who asked the difficult question.

"And his illness…?"

Bud shook his head, looking noticeably sadder than before.

"They still can't cure it. It won't get any worse or anything, but it won't get any better either."

Stillness entered the room. They all felt sorry for Coby, who would now have to fight again for his maturity to be granted to him. Bud sensed this.

"But hey," he said with a grin. "We'll all help my mom let him live his life, right?"

Everyone agreed in unison.

000

The party was in full swing. The music, chosen obviously by Lori and Bud, bleared as loudly as they dared to put it, which considering that it was Hot Shot who had been put in charge of that area, was pretty loud indeed. Optimus had attempted to put it softer three times before, but it always just returned to its original volume without anybody noticeably changing it, so he had given up. He had also let his team completely relax and let go, which was something of a dream come true for Hot Shot, who generally fought against the strict rules most of the time. It bothered him a bit, him being the leader he was, but seeing Jetfire dancing like an idiot with Override in tow made up for it in many ways. It was also harder to try and enforce discipline when the base was almost unrecognizable under the decorations Lori had been in charge of. She had enjoyed telling them all what to do, and everybody had noticed it. Most had found it amusing, others, being those who she had started to chose to do many jobs, had thanked their lucky stars that she didn't have this power all the time.

And so the party continued, only missing a few guests. A table near the door was laden with food, some of it baked by Jolt. The humans hadn't touched it yet, however. They were too busy dancing, sometimes with one another other times with the Autobots, which was much fun if not very practical. Lori wore a red dress that reached down to her ankles with a slit up the right leg and spaghetti straps. He hair hung loose for once and it swung behind her every time she turned around. Bud wore jeans with a proper, green shirt, although he had refuse point blank to wear a tie, so the collar hung open. Nobody could tell by their smiles that only twelve days ago they had been crying their eyes out because someone close to them was dying. Professor Suzuki, wearing a pretty lavender dress that hung loose on her but still somewhat showed her suspiciously big stomach, was dancing with her daughter, who was very pretty and not in the least bit shy. Colonel Franklin, wearing a suit as usual, was standing in a corner, looking a little awkward but making happy conversation with Lori's parents and admiring the deck the Autobots had put on the base especially for the party. Lori's father was evidently itching to go outside and look at the stars, but his wife kept him in the conversation firmly. Then finally the last four guests arrived, to much cheering and stamping.

First Tim and his father had entered, alerting everyone to the group's arrival. Then Mrs Hansen followed, bringing with her the person the great welcome was for. Coby grinned widely at the welcome and made a showy bow, making everybody grin or laugh and Mrs Hansen scowl. He had been discharged from the hospital five days ago, but his mother had refused to let him out of the house until now, much to his distaste. And even now she was watching him like a hawk and refusing to leave his side. He chose to just ignore this as he went around and said hello to all of the Autobots, none of which he had seen properly since their battle had begun.

"Hell Coby, I take my hat off to you; those repairs you did were great! We had to do so little to repair it, even after the ride!" Red Alert was very enthusiastic as he shook Coby's hand with his pinky. It was obvious that his words just made Coby's night, as the boy's grin grew wider.

"Aw man, now we'll never hear the end of it!" Bud pouted, rolling his eyes and pretending to be upset.

Everybody except his mother laughed and Coby threatened to put him in a headlock for the rest of the night.

"Well, now that we're on the subject of congratulating Coby, I'll add my input." Optimus Prime said. "Jetfire and myself returned to the space warp the other day to find out what happened to our foes." He paused and looked into the dead silence before continuing with a smile. "Coby's plan worked brilliantly; not one survived."

There was another outbreak of cheering any Bud clapped his brother on the back. Now they were truly safe, and they remembered how it felt to be utterly happy and nothing else.

"However," Optimus continued, trying to make his tone stern. "Coby, you did lead the other two out of the safety of our ship and onto the enemy vessel without permission, outing all three of you in danger in many, many different ways."

Coby grinned sheepishly, then, suddenly realizing Optimus wasn't really and at him, he pointed to Lori.

"She made me; it was her idea."

Everybody cracked up laughing and Lori, much to the displeasure of Mrs Hansen, slapped Coby on the shoulder. The party then continued even louder than before, and it took half an hour for Lori to make her way to Coby who was forbidden to dance too wildly and suggest they escape for a while. He jumped at the chance gratefully and snuck away from his mother. Out on the deck he shut his eyes and sighed happily, relieved to get away.

"She means well," Lori said with a small smile.

"I know. I just hate it so much. I want to live like a normal person."

Lori smiled and looked up at the stars. They looked just as small as they had up in space. She was suddenly aware that Coby was watching her. She turned to him with a questioning look. He opened his mouth, then shut it again, searching for the words. He looked at his feet for inspiration, making his hair to fall in his eyes. He shook it out, lifting his head as he did so.

"When we were up there, I heard you… express your wish."

"My wish?" Lori looked blank.

"Yeah…that everything… would be exactly the way it was before… the accident."

"Oh that," Lori said, blushing at the knowledge that Coby had heard her breakdown.

"What I want to know is what your definition of 'exactly the same' is."

"Well," Lori said. "I want to go to my old school, live in my old house, be able to hang out with you, Bud and the Autobots that stay on Earth and…" she stopped herself from saying the last part. She hadn't even known she wished that, but as the idea entered her head, her heart panged for it. She swallowed. "What is your definition?" She asked a little flustered.

"Well, like it says, exactly the same. Same house, same school, same privileges and same relationships with your parents, Bud, the Autobots and…" He stopped and Lori saw that he had to gather courage to blurt out the next part. "And me."

She looked at him, and he looked back, both looking into each other's eyes, both remembering before. When she didn't answer, Coby looked away.

"Well, I mean, as much as it could be the same. I understand it can't be _exact-_"

He broke off, not out of embarrassment or disappointment but because Lori was telling him that she wanted things to be _exactly, exactly _the same as it had been before. He happily agreed with her, relishing the feel of her lips on his where she had placed them halfway through his sentence.

000

"Has anybody seen Coby?" Mrs Hansen's vice was bordering panic, making Bud sigh.

"Mom, chill. He probably went off to be alone."

"But what if something happens?! I need to find him now."

The Autobots hastened to try and calm her down, no one noticing Bud, who had caught sight of something and was now investigating it.

"I want to find my son! Besides, he'll want to know that Lori is staying here permanently again. Where is he?"

It was a grinning Bud who turned around and answered her.

"He's making Lori's wish come true."

"What are you talking about, Bud?" His mother barked.

Bud pointed out the huge doors to the deck.

"She wanted things exactly as they were before."

"Wha-?"

Everybody turned and Mrs Hansen shrieked slightly at the sight that greeted them. Lori had her arms wrapped around Coby's neck, and his arms were around her waist, holding her close. They were still kissing, though not wildly, and it was obvious they wanted to go nowhere from where they were right then.

Override started laughing happily, and the rest of the Autobots were smiling too.

"Bud, when the hell did that happen?" Mrs Hansen yelled, her eyes wide as she pointed to the two.

"The night before the Autobots left. And, in answer to the question that is sure to follow, they didn't officially break up. Lori was just relocated and so they were prevented from being together. As you can see, they didn't like it."

"Si… since the Autobots _left?_" Mrs Hansen said faintly.

Bud nodded and the people who hadn't known this fact all hollered happily. Tim laughed at his mother's and Lori's father's faces.

"Don't worry, you two. They're still young. It will be over in a few months."

"I dunno, Tim," Bud replied. "I think those two will end up married one day. That'll be cool: Lor will be family."

"Want to bet on it, little bro?" Tim said slyly. "I'll bet fifty."

"Sure thing," Bud said, shrugging in confidence.

A few years and five weeks later, Bud was suddenly fifty bucks richer.

And there it is: the end of my first fanfic. I'm actually very, very sad. Anywho, it got a happy ending as per usual and it was tons of fun to write. Like I said above, I'll keep you updated on my bio. Thanks to everyone who read this, I appreciate it sooo much. Until the next story I post, it's goodbye my friends. Feel free to PM or Email me with ideas or whatever or if you want to chat ^^.

xx WP


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